Albert Stuivenberg was not in Dublin for Arsenal’s pre-season defeat to Real Betis on Wednesday evening.

Naturally, his absence sparked immediate speculation among fans about the Dutch coach’s future at the club.

The reality, though, is that family reasons kept him away and he is expected to return shortly.

If you were Mikel Arteta, what would you tell Arsenal’s players after the 3-1 defeat to Real Betis?

However James McNicholas has this week raised a longer-term question about Stuivenberg’s future that might be a concern for Mikel Arteta.

With Gabriel Heinze coming into the inner circle a year ago, McNicholas noted that ‘Airpod Albert’ could eventually harbour desires to get back into the main dugout as a head coach in his own right.

Speaking on Arsecast, he said: “Interesting dynamic with Gabriel Heinze coming in 12 months ago and being so close to Mikel.

“It must have been a change for sure and a change that brought great success.

“How Albert feels about that… I think he will go eventually. He’s a guy who I have heard does harbour some ambitions of being a coach in his own right one day.

“He has been before, he has been a number one and would like to give that another go.”

Of course this isn’t entirely new territory for Arsenal and Arteta. Carlos Cuesta, another key member of the coaching setup, left last summer to pursue his own managerial ambitions. He is now head coach of Parma in Serie A.

Arsenal found a suitable, albeit very different, replacement in Heinze, but losing two important coaching figures in consecutive summers would be a tricky problem to overcome.

The Premier League’s assistant manager curse

History isn’t kind to Premier League champions who lose key members of their coaching staff.

Arne Slot’s assistant coach John Heitinga left Liverpool last summer, and the then-reigning champions went to pot, finishing 25 points behind the champions.

When Arteta himself left Manchester City in 2019, City failed to retain their title the following season, trailing Liverpool by 18 points.

Go back to 2013, when Sir Alex Ferguson retired from Manchester United and David Moyes was told to keep assistants Rene Meulensteen and Mike Phelan. He ignored that advice and then didn’t even last the season as manager.

Juanma Lillo left City last summer, and although they weren’t the defending champions, Guardiola still fell short in the league after bringing in Pep Lijnders as a replacement.

Stuivenberg has been vital to what Arsenal have built under Arteta, having joined at the same time in December 2019.

His fingerprints are all over the culture the team has instilled, which ultimately led to winning the title.

However, fresh ideas and faces are always welcome ones. You can’t stand still, especially as champions. Arsenal have already decided to overhaul their medical department staff this summer.

When Stuivenberg does eventually decide to pursue his ambitions as a number one, which is entirely understandable and to his credit, Arsenal will need to find a replacement of equal quality.

But history suggests that is easier said than done.