So Arsenal signed Arteta.

It was always a very long shot that Those Who Gun might have plumped for the Aussie genius who’d just taken Yokohama to their first J-League title in two decades, but stranger things have happened.

So what happens now?

All of a sudden, Pep Guardiola is in need of an assistant, and Ange is already a member of the City Football Group.

Could it happen?

I don’t know the man, but I suspect that Ange might be too independently minded to go back to being an assistant. Mind you, he would certainly learn a lot being exposed to Guardiola’s methods, and it would be the experience of a lifetime working with so many of the world’s best players. Just imagine the challenge of trying to organise, improve and inspire the likes of Aguero or De Bruyne.

It would also be a crash course in learning the culture and personalities of the EPL – something Ange would probably need to be taken seriously for a future manager’s gig in a very top league.

So what would Guardiola get from the deal?

He would get an assistant with a track record of success and innovation. The innovation might be a problem as managers tend to want things done their own way, but the other side of that coin is the chance to freshen things up and City do need renewal if they are to seriously challenge Liverpool. This year or next.

Success, of course, is a commodity that big clubs can never stop gorging on. Ange has succeeded enough, on his own terms, to stride the corridors and training pitches of the City Group HQ like a colossus. The players would respect him.

Ange would have to swallow his pride a little, after so many years of being number one, and Pep would have to understand that his new assistant would never settle for being a mere functionary, but if they were able to work together the relationship could have powerful benefits.

The City Group must have seen something in Ange when they gave him the keys to Yokohama. You’d have to think there is some chance this could actually happen.

Adrian's books can be purchased at any good bookstore or through ebook alchemy. He will have a new novel out shortly.