Report: Mikel Arteta could join Guardiola's staff at Manchester City

Arsenal could lose another player to Manchester City, though this potential defection wouldn't come full circle on the pitch.

Oft-injured midfielder Mikel Arteta, whose contract at the Emirates runs out at the end of the campaign, could join Pep Guardiola's coaching staff next season, according to Peter O'Rourke of ESPN FC.

Guardiola, of course, is set to replace outgoing bench boss Manuel Pellegrini at the Etihad this summer.

Rumblings earlier in the year suggested Arteta, 34, was contemplating retirement due to his persistent injury troubles, and O'Rourke claims Guardiola is prepared to offer his compatriot a role on his first-team coaching staff. Ties between the two men go back to Barcelona, as each graduated through the famed La Masia academy in Catalonia.

The Spaniard, who's already earned some of the necessary coaching badges while working with Arsenal's academy, has made only eight Premier League appearances this season - all as a substitute - with recurring calf issues derailing his campaign.

Despite the link to Guardiola, and subsequently to City, the midfielder's departure is far from a certainty, notes O'Rourke.

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"Arteta, who is keeping his options open, could also be offered a coaching role at Arsenal with Arsene Wenger a big admirer of the Spaniard, but any role is unlikely to be with the first-team," O'Rourke wrote.