David Ornstein confirms Premier League-winning former Man Utd star set for major Arsenal role

Manchester United have seen several players who played under Sir Alex Ferguson go into coaching, with the likes of Paul Ince, Gary Neville, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and Ryan Giggs all having spells as managers or coaches since retiring.

The Red Devils’ current coaching staff includes former United midfielder Darren Fletcher, who is working as a technical coach. They aren’t the only Premier League team that likes to bring in former Ferguson players as coaches or managers.

Rivals Arsenal have now, per reports, appointed a former Premier League title-winner with Man United, who never had any connection to the North London club as a player, he is now set to join up with Mikel Arteta.

Ornstein says Gabriel Heinze has joined Arsenal

Former Argentina international Gabriel Heinze has joined Arsenal’s coaching staff, according to the Athletic’s David Ornstein. It comes after coach Carlos Cuesta departed the Emirates Stadium to become Italian club Parma’s new manager.

The journalist says that Heinze and Arteta were teammates at Paris Saint-Germain in the 2001/02 campaign, and that the Arsenal boss tried to recruit the former Man United and Real Madrid defender into his coaching staff last summer. But he now finally has his man.

Heinze spent three seasons with Man United after he joined from PSG in 2004. He made over 80 appearances under Ferguson, scoring four goals and providing three assists. He will be remembered for being a tough, hard-tackling centre-back who became a real block for opposing attackers.

He joins up with Arteta, meaning that his first game as a coach in the Premier League will be against his former side in Manchester United, as the Red Devils welcome Arsenal to Old Trafford for the first game of the season on August 17.

Since retiring in 2014, Heinze has been a manager for four Argentinian teams - Godoy Cruz, Argentinos Juniors, Velez Sarsfield, and Newell’s Old Boys. Furthermore, he also had a spell managing MLS side Atalanta United.

In his coaching career, Heinze has a record of 80 wins, 62 draws and 52 defeats. He has won the Argentinian second division during his time as a manager with Argentinos Juniors.

Arteta sees Heinze as an “inspiration”

The Arsenal manager’s time at PSG was remembered with two players in mind. He said in an interview at the start of last season: “The other inspirations were (Mauricio) Pochettino and Heinze.

“Those two were next to me all the time, 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.

“They protected me like a son. It was the perfect environment for me, to give me the chance, to see what I was capable of doing. It was an amazing experience.”

Man United will now have to overcome their former defender if they are able to beat the Gunners on the first game of the season, and get Ruben Amorim’s first full season as United manager off to a perfect start.

In other news, Romano: Manchester United set for £6m transfer boost in Mbeumo pursuit as rival transfer agreement 'close’.