Parma’s search for a steadier course has brought Carlos Cuesta’s brief Italian adventure to an end. The Emilian club and the 31-year-old Spanish coach agreed on Sunday to part company, judging that the conditions required to carry forward the sporting project begun last season were no longer in place.
Cuesta leaves after five Serie A matches this term, with four points collected through one win, one draw and three defeats. Club staff will oversee Monday’s training session while Parma work towards appointing his successor.
The decision closes the first senior managerial role of a coach who arrived in Italy with a reputation formed across some of Europe’s leading development environments. A native of Mallorca, Cuesta had left his position as Mikel Arteta’s assistant at Arsenal to join Parma in June 2025, becoming the youngest manager in Serie A at the age of 31.
His route to the Stadio Ennio Tardini had included spells in the youth systems at Atlético de Madrid and Juventus, before five years on Arteta’s Arsenal staff from 2020. Parma gave him his first opportunity as a head coach in professional football, and he made his competitive debut against Juventus in August 2025.
There were encouraging moments in his opening campaign. Cuesta recorded his first Serie A victory against Torino in September, guided Parma to safety in the league and took the club to the Coppa Italia round of 16. The club renewed his contract in June 2026 after a season in which his side had shown a positive style of play.
That promise did not survive the opening weeks of the new campaign. Parma said the separation had been reached by mutual agreement after internal discussions, with both parties concluding that they could no longer continue their professional relationship or develop the project as intended.
