The Gunners, led by Spanish manager Mikel Arteta, kicked off their campaign with a two-nil win against Crystal Palace last week. Check it out
Mikel Arteta :Wiki | Transfer | Return | teams coached
Arteta began his senior career at Barcelona in 1999, but limited playing time led to a loan move to Paris Saint-Germain in 2001.
He then signed for Rangers, winning the Scottish Premier League and Scottish League Cup double in his debut season.
After a brief return to hometown club Real Sociedad, Arteta joined Everton on loan in 2005; he later signed permanently.
He signed for Arsenal in 2011, where he won two FA Cups and served as captain from 2014 until his retirement in 2016.
Arteta represented Spain through several youth levels, but never played for the senior national team. After retiring, he was appointed as an assistant coach to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
In 2019, he returned to Arsenal as head coach and won the FA Cup in his first year; his title was changed to manager in September 2020 to reflect his broader remit at the club.
Mikel Arteta wiki
Born in San Sebastián, Basque Country, Arteta began his football career at Antiguoko and befriended fellow midfielder Xabi Alonso as they played together every weekend.
The two often played along the beaches and gutters of San Sebastián and dreamed of playing together at Real Sociedad.
Arteta left for the FC Barcelona B squad at 15 years of age while Alonso signed for Real Sociedad later.
Arteta failed to break into the first team, and went out on loan to French club Paris Saint-Germain in December 2000.
During a season and a half in Paris, Arteta was used by manager Luis Fernández primarily as a playmaker.
He made his first appearances in the UEFA Champions League in the 2000–01 second group stage. PSG wanted to keep Arteta at the end of the loan period, and did have a ‘buy first’ option.
Instead, Arteta was signed by Rangers in March 2002, after the Scottish club made a financially stronger offer to Barcelona, leaving the French club after the end of the 2001–02 season.
Transfer
The Gunners have brought in Fabio Vieira, Marquinhos, Matt Turner, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko this summer which has left them with a large group of players that Mikel Arteta has admitted he is keen to trim down.
“We have a large squad,” the Spaniard said last month. “We have to make some decisions on the players that we’re not going to be using consistently and be fair and straight with them and that’s a process that is going to start very soon as well and we have to, and now we have to make things happen.”
The Spaniard spent the second half of last season on loan with Udinese and has publicly stated a desire to return to Italy this year.
“It’s the right league for me,” he said earlier this year. “Very tactical. I try to bring the attacker towards me.
I really like having the ball and here it can be done and then there is the battle and I like having a battle on the pitch.”
Return
The Gunners, led by Spanish manager Mikel Arteta, kicked off their campaign with a two-nil win against Crystal Palace last week.
Looking ahead to their next fixture, which is set to be against former champions Leicester City on Saturday, Arteta will know that his side must remain consistent in order to continue their impressive start.
Following the recent signings of ex-Manchester City duo Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus, Arteta will be keeping everything crossed that neither player picks up a late injury.
However, when it comes to Zinchenko, there is the possibility that the Ukraine international could find himself dropped to the bench, or playing in a secondary midfield role, and that is because Arteta has confirmed that Kieran Tierney has made a full return to fitness and is ‘ready to go’.
Fans will love hearing that Tierney, who arrived from Celtic in 2019 for £24m, is back in with a chance of being selected.
When fully fit and firing, the 25-year-old is undoubtedly one of Europe’s most well-rounded full-backs – a player capable of fulfilling both his defensive and offensive duties.
Teams coached
As a player, Arteta began his youth career at Barcelona before taking in spells at Paris Saint-Germain, Rangers and Real Sociedad.
His introduction to English football came during a loan spell at Everton in January 2005, before making the move to Goodison Park permanent six months later.
He moved to Arsenal in August 2011, where he was named club captain ahead of the 2014/15 season. The Spaniard won two FA Cups during his time with the Gunners, before retiring in 2016.
Arteta was appointed as an assistant coach at Manchester City in July 2016 working under manager Pep Guardiola, and was part of the coaching team that won the Premier League in 2017/18 with a record 100 points.
City became the first club in 10 seasons to retain the Premier League trophy a year later, while they also won two EFL Cups and one FA Cup during Arteta’s time at the Etihad Stadium.
The Gunners finished eighth in a Premier League campaign that was suspended for 100 days due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
But under Arteta, Arsenal’s season ended on a high with victory in the FA Cup final and qualification for the UEFA Europa League.