Upon retiring from professional football, Mikel Arteta had three very attractive options available to him.. Firstly, a chance to run Arsenal’s academy set-up under the then-watchful eye of Arsene Wenger. Two, a reunion with former PSG team-mate Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham in a backroom staff role. Or, thirdly, become Pep Guardiola’s assistant manager at Manchester City. The rest, as they say, is history.. Arteta was always extremely popular in and around the dressing room as a player. Hard-working and diligent, close friend Guardiola – who played with him at Barcelona’s famous ‘La Masia’ academy – knew that having a man with the drive and ethic like the former Man City coach has was someone he was keen to have around him at the Etihad Stadium.. READ MORE: Erling Haaland sends four-word message to Man City teammates before Arsenal showdown. READ MORE: Walker, Stones, De Bruyne – Man City injury news and return dates ahead of Arsenal showdown. And so the story begins, with Arteta joining forces with old pal Guardiola to help City on their rise to the top which saw the duo win two Premier League titles, an FA Cup, and two EFL Cups. But, burning beneath the ex-Everton midfielder was a desire for more, that hunger shown not just on the football pitch but also in terms of making a difference as the head honcho so-to-speak. Being in Guardiola’s shadow was never just enough.. And so the Emirates called and that was that. Arteta swapped Manchester for London and with the Gunners in need, along came their hero. Moving on from an era filled with mostly success under Wenger was never going to be easy – as the first few seasons showed. But restoring values and building a winning culture, as he had seen at the Etihad, was something the former Real Sociedad man was entirely passionate about.. “I want people to take responsibility for their jobs and I want people who deliver passion and energy in the football club. Anyone who doesn’t buy into this, or that has a negative effect or whatever, is not good enough for this environment or this culture,” echoed the Spaniard in his first press conference as Arsenal manager. Being number two, as he was at City, was not quite going to ever be enough.. Wholesale changes were about to arrive. England international Bukayo Saka was first deployed at left-back and his transition to become one of the world’s best in his position is only really a testament to the man-management shown by Arteta across his now four years in north London. Players like David Luiz, Sokratis, Mesut Ozil and Alexander Lacazette were still all at the club and ensuring a complete overhaul was not something that was going to be done by magic or even at the snap of the Spaniard’s fingers.. Fast forward four years and City now have a huge six-pointer beckoning with one of two teams standing in their way, potentially denying them the opportunity of a fourth-consecutive Premier League title. Could Guardiola ever have imagined it? Who knows, but Arteta’s comments on the man who gave him that first chance in football management ring true now more than ever before.. “Listen, the relationship between me and Pep is incredibly good,” said the Arsenal boss after agreeing to take over at the Emirates Stadium in 2020. “Obviously he was sad and the timing wasn’t the best for him but he understood. He knows how I’ve been growing and the needs that I have emotionally, the ambitions that I had, and he kept giving me more and more and more over the years.. “If I had admiration for him before, after working with him I cannot explain how much of a nice person he is and what a professional he is. The way he reacted with me looking at my eyes, he knew that I was suffering because I was leaving in a moment where they need me a little bit as well, so I felt in that sense a little bit sad. But he’s been so supportive, the same as Txiki, as Ferran and Khaldoon – I was on the phone with him yesterday.. “The terms that we left the relationship in, they could not be any better. I said goodbye to all the staff at the training ground yesterday, all the players, I cried because they’ve been my family for three and a half years and we’ve had incredible moments.”
