Mikel Arteta has gone from an iconic Arsenal midfielder to one of the most popular Gunners’ managers amongst the fanbase.
Arteta become manager at the Emirates in 2019 after he’d been in Pep Guardiola’s coaching staff at Manchester City. The two have now become title rivals as over the past two seasons Mikel Arteta has got his Arsenal side close to de-throning City in the Premier League.
The Spaniard has vast experience as a player and has used that to develop a managerial style that is built upon leadership and a balanced style of football with pacey attacks and a solid defence at the heart of his Arsenal side.
Working alongside former Gunners midfielder Edu to bring in several talented players, he’s been able to build a squad that is capable of challenging Manchester City. However, Sporting Director Edu has left Arsenal now to join up with Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Maranakis.
Mikel Arteta’s impressive resume as a player
Arteta began his footballing journey in 1991 aged nine as he played in the youth academy at Spanish club Antiguoko before he was brought into Barcelona’s youth system at the age of 15 in 1997.
He signed his first professional contract in 1999 when he played for Barcelona’s B Team alongside two teammates from Antiguoko.
In 2001, he left on loan for Paris Saint-Germain where he made 31 appearances aged 19 before returning to Barcelona and getting sold to Scottish side Rangers in 2002.
Still aged just 20, Mikel Arteta established himself in the Scottish side’s first team making 50 appearances over two seasons and scoring 12 goals in that time.
He then transferred to Spanish side and boyhood club Real Sociedad in 2004 for a fee of £4.3m. The idea was that he would get to play alongside Xabi Alonso in midfield, but Alonso moved to Liverpool and Arteta struggled to get consistent game time at Sociedad.
With that in mind, he spent just one season at his boyhood club before he moved to England for the first time and joined Everton for a fee of just £2 million which proved to be excellent business for David Moyes who was the Toffees’ manager at the time.
Arteta became one of the most consistent Premier League midfielders during his time at Goodison Park as he made over 200 appearances for the club in his six-year spell, scoring 35 goals and 36 assists.
After his success with Everton, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger decided to sign him in 2011 on transfer deadline day for a fee of around £10 million at the age of 29. He found success with Arsenal as he won two FA Cup trophies with the Gunners both in 2014 and 2015.
The Spanish midfielder made over 150 appearances at the Emirates, scoring 16 goals and eight assists.
From Pep Guardiola’s apprentice, to his rival as Arsenal manager
Arteta was one of those players who always seemed destined to go into coaching due to his calm and mature nature as a player which enabled him to have the leadership qualities that a manager requires, especially at a big club like Arsenal.
He began his coaching career after retiring from professional football in 2016, but he had three options on how he could have began his career in coaching.
Arteta was offered the job by Arsene Wenger to lead the Arsenal academy which he rejected. He was also offered to join Mauricio Pochettino’s coaching staff at Paris Saint-Germain which he also rejected.
In the end, the midfielder decided to accept Pep Guardiola’s offer to become assistant coach at Manchester City where he began to learn from one of the greatest manager of all time. The two met in Barcelona’s academy as Guardiola was older than Arteta at the time.
However, they stayed in touch throughout their careers and developed an excellent working relationship at the Etihad Stadium. Together, Guardiola and Arteta won two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and two Carabao Cups.
In 2018, the Spaniard became heavily linked to the job at Arsenal following Arsene Wenger’s departure after 22 years at the club. However, the Gunners opted to go with now Aston Villa manager Unai Emery instead of Arteta.
However, when Emery was dismissed at the Emirates in December 2019, Arteta was appointed as his successor, finally making a return to Arsenal after three years away from the club.
In his first season, Arteta led the Gunners to just an eighth-placed finish in the league, but did win silverware as he won the FA Cup which remains his only trophy at the Emirates as a manager so far.
Following that, they also finished eighth in Arteta’s second season but there was improvement in the 2021/22 season as he led the Gunners back to European football as they finished fifth. However, things took a big step in Mikel Arteta’s fourth season as they suddenly became title challengers to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
The Gunners finished five points behind Manchester City and in second in the Premier League in what was their best season since 2004 which was, despite not winning the title, a huge success for Mikel Arteta.
The following season provided a heartbreak as Arsenal then finished just two points behind Manchester City and yet again they had to see Pep Guardiola’s side lift the trophy despite an excellent run at the league under Mikel Arteta.
Three things you didn’t know about Mikel Arteta
The Arsneal manager is known to have been one of the most intelligent midfielders of his generation and so it may not come as a surprise that he is fluent in four languages and also speaks three more. He is fluent in Spanish, English, Catalan and Basque.
Furthermore, Arteta can also speak French, Italian and Portuguese.
The Arsenal boss also has shared a room with footballing royalty as he used to share hotel rooms with Ronaldinho whilst he was playing at Paris Saint-Germain on their away trips every single week.
It may come as a surprise however that Arteta was never called up to play for Spain and he is regarded as one of the greatest ever players to never get an international call-up.
