How much time does he need? He already has two seasons under his belt with Pep whilst spending the last two years of his Arsenal career in more of a coaching role than playing role given he couldn't get on the pitch. He has a wealth of footballing experience having played in Spain, France, Scotland and England so he can speak a number of languages and has played in different systems. Tactically speaking I have no doubt that right now he is ready and the question mark regarding his ability to manage is how he handles pressure, but unless he leaves Pep/City to manage a smaller team that question mark will remain regardless of how long he spends being Peps right hand man. I'm very confident that he is ready to manage and that we should be ones to take the risk on him, while the people we now have working in the background on transfers should also aid in his potential introduction to being manager.
Ideally he'd have 2-3 seasons as an assistant then another couple at a smaller club to see what he can do.
Call me old fashioned but i believe managers need to cut their teeth in lesser roles before taking on the big gigs.
I, like you, believe Arteta has what it takes to be a top manager one day but lets be honest, if he wasn't an ex-Arsenal player there is no way he'd be in consideration.
At Arsenal whoever comes in will be stepping in to a void left by someone with 30+ years managerial experience. Whatever happens when Wenger leaves i'm firmly of the opinion that the next manager needs to be able to hit the ground running and produce the results.
We don't have the luxury of being Man United, ******* up the post Ferguson appointments but being so bloated with cash they can afford to spend silly money to stay competitive. We've already fallen way off the pace and i don't think straight after Wenger is the time to experiment with a rookie manager; We've got Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea, City and United pulling away from us. We need a manager that has shown they can compete from day one.
Getting the post Wenger appointment right is critical.