Of all the tests Mikel Arteta faced during his playing career, it is the one at Paris Saint-Germain that still defines him. ‘I’m still grateful to the club that believed in me at the age of 18,’ he reflected on Monday.
That loan spell was perhaps overshadowed by the midfielder’s later experiences — his two seasons at Rangers, then six years with David Moyes at Everton — but its value is evident in his handling of the likes of teenager Ethan Nwaneri.
The 18-year-old Arteta arrived in the bitter cold of Paris in January 2001. It was the first time he had lived outside his native Spain. He felt homesick and overawed at the beginning of a year-and-a-half loan spell from Barcelona, which planted the seeds of management in Arteta’s mind — and saw him become room-mates with Ronaldinho.
Arsenal face the French giants on Tuesday night in their first Champions League match at the Emirates in this campaign and, for Arteta, it is a reunion with a club he holds close to his heart. You could feel the connection as he glowingly eulogised about an experience some 23 years ago.
‘In a club of that size and city, which is probably the most beautiful one in Europe, it’s an experience that will stay with me forever,’ he said.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta admitted that playing for PSG at the age of 18 was 'terrifying'
Mauricio Pochettino (middle) was amongst the players that a young Arteta played with at PSG
Now, the Spaniard is looking to take down PSG when they face Arsenal on Tuesday night
‘With team-mates that shaped who I want to be as a player, and I think igniting in me something to become a manager. We had Ronaldinho, Jay-Jay Okocha, Nicolas Anelka, Mauricio Pochettino, Gabriel Heinze. They were all unbelievable.
‘It was terrifying for me, it was for my family. We were in Barcelona when we got the phone call: “You need to pack your bags and fly to Paris, now”.
‘I had not played any professional football and you look at those names. “Are they sure?” But you get there and Luis Fernandez was the manager, he was the one that believed in me. They protected me like a son.’
He went on to play 53 games for PSG in a side that won the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2001 — the last piece of European silverware PSG have secured.
That was before moving to Rangers for £6million in 2002 after PSG and Barcelona could not agree a deal. The Spaniard had wanted to stay.
Up there among Arteta’s personal highlights from his stint in Paris was playing alongside, and rooming with, future Brazilian great Ronaldinho.
The Ballon d’Or winner was only 21 when he arrived from Gremio in July 2001 and close in age to Arteta. Even then, Ronaldinho’s talents in training left the Arsenal boss bewildered.
Arteta praised current PSG boss Luis Enrique and outlined the threat that they will pose
The attacking qualities of PSG could cause problems for Arsenal at Emirates Stadium
Youngsters Ethan Nwaneri (left) and Myles Lewis-Skelly (right) are being integrated into the Arsenal first-team by Arteta
‘I had to do all the defending because I had Ronaldinho and Okocha in front of me — imagine!’ he says. ‘It was super, almost unreal. It was a dream for me.
‘We were room-mates for a year and a half. But I could not see him like this at the time, obviously. But he was a huge talent. He was coming from Brazil. He didn’t have the work permit so he had to wait for a couple of months.
‘But he’s the only player I have seen in history that could transform, by himself, two clubs. He did it in Paris, he transformed them. He went to Barcelona in one of their worst moments and transformed them.
‘He had an aura, an energy, a smile on his face… it was impossible to be next to him and be in a bad mood. And then I never saw a talent like this. In training, in every drill, it was like, “How is this possible?”. Physically it’s impossible to do certain things. It was unbelievable to play with him.’
Asked what it was like to room with Ronaldinho, he breaks out into a grin and replies: ‘He was great. Again, so much energy, so much fun, everything was good. Never a problem! Great times.’
The other figure that left an important impression was Pochettino. The Argentine was Arteta’s captain and arrived in Paris at the same time he signed.
He provided support akin to an older brother, taking it upon himself to look after the kid from Catalonia. Such was the bond, they remained in touch long after, with Pochettino seeking his advice about taking charge at Southampton in 2013.
It was rumoured he tried to hire the Spaniard as one of his coaches at Tottenham three years later, after Arteta’s retirement from playing. When previously asked about Pochettino, Arteta had said he was ‘really inspirational, really supportive. He took me under his arm like a little child, a little brother’.
Arteta admitted that Pochettino was 'really inspirational, really supportive' for his career
He added: ‘That period was key in my career to be able to make it. He was critical and has been one of the most influential people in my career.’
Even in those early years, Pochettino could smell those managerial credentials from a mile away.
He said in October last year: ‘He was giving advice to me and to others. I was the captain! Wow…the character, the personality, the charisma. Already he had the football brain. You either have it or you don’t. You cannot go to the supermarket and buy one.
‘I always used to say, “Mikel is going to be a coach”. But not only is he going to be a coach, he’s going to be a great coach.’
Arteta has a number of talented young players itching for first-team minutes, particularly 17-year-old pair Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly.
Both have come through the academy and been slowly integrated into the first-team squad. They took a further step last Wednesday in the Carabao Cup third-round victory over Bolton, in which the teenagers came to the fore in the Gunners’ 5-1 rout. Arteta was only a year older than them when he joined PSG and has looked to create a similar environment for them.
‘Yeah, basically what I had and what made that experience successful — I’m trying to provide that, because it’s what the boys need,’ Arteta said. ‘The manager has a responsibility in the way he
communicates with that player and the decision he makes in order for the rest to understand: “He is one of us”.’
The likes of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar are no longer at PSG, but this team remain a big threat under Luis Enrique, who Arteta knows from his Barcelona days.
Enrique was a first-team star when Arteta was at the beginning of his career. The 54-year-old won a treble of trophies during his debut season at PSG, as well as reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Arteta added: ‘He has an unbelievable personality, huge charisma, huge energy.
‘You can see at PSG it’s his team — the way the players behave, the way they want to attack. They want to dominate games, the spirit, the energy that they have. He has this unbelievable power. He has won every competition you can imagine in his career.
‘He has transformed a club that has a very clear identity under him, so it is a very big test for us.’