Norwich City eye Mikel Arteta's assistant to replace David Wagner | OneFootball

David Wagner's time at Norwich City could come to an end sooner than anticipated with reports suggesting that Arsenal assistant manager Carlos Cuesta could be lined up to replace the German over the summer months.

Wagner came into the Norwich fold just over a year ago after Dean Smith was sacked following a poor run of form that left the Carrow Road outfit miles off a realistic promotion chance, though Wagner in fact made Norwich worse and only stumbled to a 13th-placed finish - 39 points behind eventual champions Burnley.

It's seen supporters divided over his managerial prowess, but that could be set to change with a report stating that Arsenal assistant Cuesta is a potential name for his replacement should that happen.

That’s according to the Guardian, who state that Arsenal are expecting to fend off interest from the Carrow Road outfit and other unnamed Championship teams come the end of the season.

28-year-old Cuesta, who joined Arsenal aged just 25 from Juventus, has been with the Gunners throughout their rise to genuine title contenders under the Spaniard, and if regarded as one of the best young coaches on the globe.

The link between Cuesta and Norwich is that of sporting director Ben Knapper, who spent time at Arsenal as the loan manager before joining Norwich as sporting director just three months ago - and he could use his contact book to get in touch with Cuesta to fend off interest from elsewhere with Wagner’s stint in East Anglia failing to pull up many trees.

David Wagner Norwich City latest

Wagner was seen by many outside of Carrow Road as a decent appointment for Norwich, though many reserved their judgements over his lack of results and, of course, his sacking from Schalke and Swiss outfit Young Boys.

Wagner came to prominence by taking Huddersfield up to the Premier League in 2016/17, but it's fair to say his managerial career hasn't quite gone to date following the Terriers' measly 16-point haul later that season.

Norwich are on a decent run of form at present having lost just one in their last seven, with that being away to Leeds United - yet an early-season run of just two wins in ten games put them way behind the promotion pack and they are still chasing that elusive play-off spot to this day.

Carlos Cuenta profiled

Cuenta began his coaching career at Atletico Madrid in 2014 aged just 18, but with the Gunners in a title race he is only likely to consider any approaches at the end of the season.

The Spaniard is a close friend of Knapper, according to the report, and whilst other Championship teams have taken an interest in his signature for their own managerial benefit, any attempts from second-tier sides would be something that the Gunners could well mark as swiftly rejected.

Cuesta is thought to be one of Arteta’s closest members of staff and has been linked with transforming the Gunners to top-flight challengers, with his emphasis on individual coaching being beneficial for the likes of Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice.