'I went to dinner with Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta – his behaviour was telling'

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Nacho Monreal says one dinner with Mikel Arteta was all it took to convince him that his Arsenal team-mate would go on into management. Monreal joined the club when his fellow Spaniard was at the tail end of his professional career, and he saw bags of coaching potential in Arteta.

Speaking to Ladbrokes at the launch of Ladisfaction, Monreal described the moment he witnessed firsthand the ex- Premier League star's desire to know all there is to know about football, even in his downtime.

Monreal said: " It’s no surprise to me that Mikel Arteta has gone into management… I joined Arsenal in 2013, and Mikel was already at the club.

"He was not the captain, but he was one of the senior players in the dressing room, and from the very first minute, you would always see him talking about football. You just knew he was going to be a manager.

"Of course, you never know how good someone is going to be in the job, and for me, right now, he’s one of the best three coaches in the world … without a doubt.

"I can remember, myself and Santi [Cazorla] used to go to Mikel Arteta’s house for dinner with our families, when we were players, and whenever we arrived, he’d be there in front of his TV with a notebook and a pen, making notes about everything in a game.

"We would just be like, 'Mikel, what are you doing?!' But he was already preparing for this stage of his career. "

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Arteta went on to prove Monreal right, earning his stripes working as an assistant coach under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City . The ex-Gunner helped the City boss win two Premier League titles, two FA Cups and two League Cups before returning home to north London in 2019 to take the reins.

Since then, Arteta has transformed an ageing squad into a formidable one that has challenged for the title on numerous occasions, albeit thus far falling short. They sit at the summit of the Premier League once again this season, with the expectation to win the title clear.

Monreal admitted that Arteta put himself under extreme pressure as a player in order to be the best, and it shows that his attitude hasn't changed now he is coaching. He added: "Once he started to pick up a few injuries in the later stages of his career, I think that was when he really started planning for a future in management.

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"He would always be telling me what I could or should have done better on the pitch, and you could see he always had his own ideas of where he wanted people to be and how he wanted us to play. I would always say, 'Mikel, you cannot be everywhere!' But he tried to be. It’s no coincidence that this is what he’s doing right now.

"And just look where he is; Arsenal look like one of the best clubs in the world right now, and he has a chance to win the Premier League, and for me is one of the favourites to win the Champions League too… that’s all down to Mikel Arteta, for me."

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