Parma coach Carlos Cuesta: Leaving Arsenal was maybe the most difficult decision of my life'

"In June, shortly before turning 30, he took the reins at Parma and became the youngest head coach in Serie A since 1939. Half of his short life had been spent building up to that moment, the realisation crystallising in his late teens that no other calling would do. I felt that I needed to coach, he says. It was like an inner necessity that I had inside of me."

"It was during a five-year spell as one of Mikel Arteta's assistants at Arsenal that he matured from inquisitive, ferociously diligent tyro into an elite manager in waiting. Nobody involved with the Premier League leaders would play down Cuesta's influence; the public received a glimpse when he featured in the club's All or Nothing documentary three years ago."

"Parting ways brought its own agony. It was maybe the most difficult decision of my life, he says of the moment Parma called. Cuesta had to weigh the sense he was aboard a rocket ship against the privilege of being sought by a club feted for its success in the 1990s. I was incredibly happy at Arsenal, surrounded by incredible people in an incredible project."

Carlos Cuesta accepted the Parma head-coach role in June, shortly before his 30th birthday, becoming the youngest Serie A head coach since 1939. He realised in his late teens that coaching was his calling and spent much of his life preparing for management. He evolved significantly during a five-year spell as one of Mikel Arteta's assistants at Arsenal, where his influence was widely recognised and visible to the public. Leaving Arsenal was emotionally difficult as he weighed a rapidly advancing project against the chance to lead a club with Parma's historical prestige. He jokes about the Maldives but has scarcely wasted a minute.

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