This archive report was first published on 23 December 2019.
December 23, 2019, marked a significant day for Arsenal as they appointed Mikel Arteta as their new permanent manager, signing a three-and-a-half year contract. This move comes just three years after Arteta hung up his boots.
Arteta's journey to the hotseat began during his time at Rangers, where he was mentored by Ronald de Boer. De Boer, a former teammate of Arteta's, believes that the 37-year-old was always destined for management.
"From my own time at Barca, I could speak Spanish," de Boer told the Sunday Post. "So there was a natural coming together between Mikel and I. We spent a lot of time together, and I became a father figure to him."
De Boer recalled the numerous hours they spent discussing the game over coffee, with Arteta always eager to learn. "You can never be certain, but I did get a feeling - even back then when he was so young - that he had a desire to get into coaching. That has turned out to be the case," de Boer said.
Arteta's potential was further honed during his three-year stint away from Arsenal, where he learned under the tutelage of Pep Guardiola as his no.2 at Manchester City. He was previously interviewed for the Arsenal job at the end of Arsene Wenger's reign but was overlooked in favor of Unai Emery.
De Boer feels that it was only a matter of time before Arteta was handed an opportunity, given his clear potential. "I told the club [Rangers] to look after Mikel and work closely with him because they had a rough diamond. They had to polish him up a little bit to make him shine," de Boer added.
