New appointment: Gabriel Heinze is set to join Arsenal
Arsenal Football Newsletter
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has been looking to add to his backroom staff after assistant coach Carlos Cuesta became Parma’s head coach earlier this summer.
Arteta has known Heinze since he was a teenager at Paris Saint-Germain, where the pair played together over a decade ago.
The Arsenal manager described Heinze as one of the “unbelievable players” he played with and an “inspiration”.
“[Mauricio] Pochettino and Heinze, those two were next to me all the time [at PSG], behind me, and they were guiding me in everything I had to do in my professional life, how I had to understand the game and they were inspirational to me,” Arteta has said.
Heinze has had managerial jobs in the past, but he has been out of work since November 2023 after leaving Argentine side Newell’s Old Boys.
The 47-year-old was linked with joining Arsenal’s backroom staff a year ago and reports in Argentina claimed he was ready to sign on at a time when Cuesta was being linked with managerial jobs.
Heinze enjoyed a glittering playing career and, after three years at PSG, he played for Manchester United and then Real Madrid.
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The former left-back also made 72 appearances for Argentina, winning Olympic gold with them in 2004.
Arteta has had a core backroom staff at Arsenal for a number of years now, which consists of assistant Albert Stuivenberg, goalkeeping coach Inaki Cana, set-piece coach Nicolas Jover and first-team coach Miguel Molina.
Mikel Arteta and Arsenal set-piece coach Nicolas Jover
The Gunners will ramp up training this month, with the main part of their schedule being a tour to Singapore and Hong Kong.
Arsenal will depart for Singapore on July 19 and they will have matches against AC Milan and Newcastle there. They will then travel to Hong Kong to face rivals Tottenham on July 31.
The club are planning to round off pre-season by playing the Emirates Cup the week before the Premier League returns.