Parma surprises everyone with new coach: he is only 29 years old

A surprising and counter-intuitive choice: Parma has decided to entrust the bench to Carlos Cuesta, a Spanish coach born in 1995 who is currently Mikel Arteta’s assistant at Arsenal. At only 29 years old, Cuesta will become–if the deal is formalized–the youngest coach in recent Serie A history and in the postwar period.

The Emilian club, fresh off a positive season culminating with a return to the top flight, decided not to continue with Cristian Chivu, who recently landed at Inter, and focused on a profile unheard of in our league. A bold move desired by president Kyle Krause and manager Federico Cherubini, who knows Cuesta from his Juventus Under-17 days, where the two crossed paths between 2018 and 2020.

Cuesta, a native of Palma de Mallorca, began his coaching career at a very young age, moving through the youth ranks of Atlético Madrid and then landing in Italy at Juventus. In 2020, the jump to the Premier League, joining Arsenal’s technical staff, where he worked side by side with Arteta, becoming one of the most respected assistants for method and tactical approach.

His style is openly inspired by positional soccer and the model of Pep Guardiola, with whom he indirectly worked through Arteta’s experience at Manchester City. Parma, therefore, relies on a young visionary, still lacking experience as a head coach, but with an international background and a modern philosophy.

Negotiations to free him from Arsenal are at an advanced stage: it remains to get the final go-ahead from the London club. Overcome competition from more experienced names such as Daniele De Rossi