A temporary stay in the French capital played a big part in the future career aspirations of Arsenal’s current manager.
In his early playing days, Mikel Arteta was loaned to Paris Saint-Germain midway through the 2000-01 campaign, where then-manager Luis Fernandez used him primarily as a playmaker.
During his one-and-a-half-year spell in Paris, the Spaniard featured in 53 matches across all competitions, scoring five goals while helping them claim the Intertoto Cup in 2001.
Arteta says he has nothing but fond memories of his time at PSG. “It was an unbelievable time that I spent there, and I loved every minute of it. I will always be grateful to the club and Luis Fernandez because he was the one who believed in me when I was 17, 18 years old.”
The current Arsenal boss wanted to stay in Paris at the time, but the club couldn’t reach a deal with the club that owned his rights at the time, Barcelona.
“It was an experience that will stay with me forever, with teammates who helped me and shaped who I wanted to be as a player and ignited something in me to become a manager in the future. There were some very important individuals in that part of my career,” Arteta added.
After leaving PSG, the man born in San Sebastian moved to Rangers, where he helped the Glasgow side win the Scottish Premiership and Scottish League Cup in 2002-03.
He would go on to play most of his career in the UK from that point on, with Premier League stops at Everton and Arsenal and a brief spell with his hometown club, Real Sociedad, in the 2004-05 season.
When PSG were seeking a new manager following the sacking of Christophe Galtier in the summer of 2023, Sporting Director Luis Campos reportedly wanted to bring Arteta back to the French capital.
Arteta set to face PSG as manager for first time
Instead, Arteta chose to remain in North London, signing a three-year extension with the Gunners until 2027. One of the players ahead of Arteta in the pecking order at Barça years ago, Luis Enrique, wound up taking charge of Les Parisiens.
On Tuesday, the two former teammates will meet at the Emirates Stadium in London on matchday two of the Champions League campaign.
Arsenal will be seeking their first victory of that competition after claiming a 0-0 draw in their opener against Atalanta.
This will be Arteta’s first time facing his former club as manager, with the Gunners unbeaten against PSG in four previous encounters in European competition.
