Duncan Castles has been speaking on the latest edition of The Transfer Window podcast about news from a few Premier League clubs.
He briefly mentioned Everton, and Castles revealed that the Toffees were interested in appointing their former player Mikel Arteta as their boss before they went for Carlo Ancelotti.
While discussing the problems that Arteta is having at Arsenal at the moment with the Gunners having only won one of their last five league games, Castles revealed that Everton were one of a number of clubs who wanted Arteta as their manager.
He said: “You’re looking at a manager who is inexperienced.
“A lot of clubs wanted Arteta; Everton wanted to bring him [in].
“He was first-choice for Arsenal, but they were doing that on the basis of [him being] a player with a good reputation at both of those clubs in the past.”
Do you think Everton made the right choice?
Yes
No
TIF Thoughts on Arteta and Castles’ information on Everton’s interest…
The Spaniard made 209 appearances for the Toffees, scored 35 goals, and provided 33 assists as a player, and it seems as if, according to Castles, it was this reputation that he had at Goodison Park that made the club interested in appointing him as their boss.
However, in the end, he went to north London where the 38-year-old has won the FA Cup and the Community Shield and has so far taken charge of 43 games in his first job as a manager.
Everton went for Ancelotti, who has won three Champions Leagues and has managed ten clubs including the Toffees, so he has a lot more experience than Arteta in terms of clubs managed, and big trophies won.
So we feel that out of the two, the Toffees went for the right man as Ancelotti has won so much in his career as a boss, and he has proven that he can bring success to the clubs he has managed.
Meanwhile, Arteta is still inexperienced and has a long way to go to reach the level of success that Ancelotti has achieved in his career as a manager.