Mikel Arteta Biography

Brought into the world in San Sebastián, Arteta started his senior career at Barcelona in 1999, however restricted playing time prompted a loan move to Paris Saint-Germain in 2001. He later signed a contract with Rangers, winning both the Premier League and League Cup in his first season. After a concise return to the town club Real Sociedad, Arteta joined Everton on a loan in 2005; he later signed a permanent contract. He signed a contract with Arsenal in 2011, where he won two FA Cups and became captain from 2014 until his retirement in 2016. 

Arteta played for Spain national team through multiple youth levels, however never played for the senior team. 

After his retirement, Arteta was named as an assistant coach at Manchester City in 2016. He considered it an honor to work with Pep Guardiola. In 2019, he came back to Arsenal as manager and won the FA Cup in his first year. 

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Everything You Need to Know About Mikel Arteta biography 

Now let's go through some genral, yet useful information about Mikel Arteta.

Mikel Arteta Information

Bio

• Full name:

  Mikel Arteta Amatriain

• Nickname:

  Mikky

Physical Stats

• Height:

  1.83 m

• Eye color:

  Black

• Hair color:

  Black

Football Information

• Position:

  Midfielder

• Professional debut:

  1999

Jersey number:

8

Personal Information

• Mikel Arteta date of birth: 

  26 March 1982

• Place of birth:

  San Sebastian, Spain

• Marital status:

  Married

• Zodiac sign:

  Aries

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Mikel Arteta Early Life

Arteta left for the FC Barcelona B team at 15 years old while Alonso signed with Real Sociedad. Despite his potential, Arteta was denied the chance to play for 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 utilized by manager Luis Fernández mainly as a playmaker.

He showed up in the UEFA Champions League in the 2000–01 second group stage. PSG desired to keep Arteta until the end of the loan contract, and had a 'buy first' option on the table. Anyway, Arteta was signed by Rangers in March 2002, after the Scottish club made an impressive offer to Barcelona, although he stayed with PSG until the end of the 2001–02 season. 

Brought into the world in San Sebastián, Basque Country, Arteta started his football career at Antiguoko and got to know his pal, Xabi Alonso as they played together consistently. The two regularly played along the sea shores and drains of San Sebastián and longed for playing together at Real Sociedad. 

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Mikel Arteta Profile 

An interesting part of a biography, is to read about a player’s professional profile. In this part of Mikel Arteta biography, we will explore Mikel Arteta’s journey in his playing days.

Arteta signed with Scottish club Rangers in March 2002 in a £6 million transfer trade. He enjoyed a very prosperous first season in Glasgow and immediately settled himself as a first-team regular player. 

Arteta began his second season with Rangers by scoring six goals in the initial six matches of the season as the club qualified for the Champions League group stages, though they didn't qualify from that group and finished the campaign without a prize. Arteta came back to Spain after two seasons in Glasgow; he later labelled his spell at Rangers as helping him build up as a player, expressing "Scottish football was tough, really tough. It was really physical, people got at you and I had to improve on that a lot. I think I did that to get to the level that the Premier League required of me."  

He joined Real Sociedad for €5.2 million in year 2004 with the thought being that Arteta and Xabi Alonso could finally play together. However, the fate was cruel. The two pals could not reunite as Alonso left for Liverpool and Arteta failed to establish himself in the team, making the starting list in just three matches in the half-season he spent back in San Sebastián.  

Everton manager David Moyes signed Arteta in the 2005 January transfer window on a loan with a view to a permanent transfer. Viewed as a replacement for Danish midfielder Thomas Gravesen who had moved to Real Madrid, Arteta had an instantaneous impact in aiding Everton with accomplishing the chance of qualifying for the Champions League when they finished fourth in the Premier League; be that as it may, they were taken out by Villarreal in the last qualifying round. He scored his first Everton goal in a 4–0 triumph over Crystal Palace, and marked a permanent five-year deal in July 2005 for an amount of £2 million. 

The 2005–06 season saw Arteta get both the Everton Fans' Player of the Season and the Players' Player of the Season prizes. Arteta's satisfactory form spread into 2006–07. Just as keeping his first place, he habitually turned in man-of-the-match performances, and completed the season with nine goals from the 35 league games he played. Arteta was granted the Player of the Season Award for the second continuous year. He was likewise voted as the Premier League's 'Midfielder of the Year' by the viewers of Sky Sports, beating PFA Players' Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo. 

We are definitely sure you aren’t bored by reading

Mikel Arteta bio

so far, since he has had an interesting career. Arteta's creative ability was a fundamental piece of Everton's attacking style of play the following season, and he had scored six goals before the end of January. That improved further a season later, with Arteta scoring multiple times in the 2006–07 season and indeed finishing the season as the Player of the Year. He helped Everton secure a spot in the UEFA Cup and was ranked by the ACTIM Index as the 6th best player in the Premier League, however it didn't earn him a call-up into the full Spain squad. During the late spring of 2007, he marked another five-year contract. 

Arteta added another honor to his developing collection during the 2007–08 season, when he got the North West Footballer of the Year grant. He later turned into the first Everton player in quite a while to get the Liverpool Echo's Sports Personality of the Year prize in January 2008. 

Arteta endured a stomach injury in the second half of the season, and right away before the end of the January, he went through a medical procedure to correct the issue. He scored his first goal of the 2008–09 season in the Premier League opener versus Blackburn Rovers with a free kick. He was selected as captain for a 2–2 draw with Newcastle United, scoring a penalty in the game.

In February, Arteta was carted away on a stretcher in a 0–0 draw with Newcastle having harmed a tendon in his knee, days after his first call-up in the Spain national team. The injury kept him out for the remainder of the 2008–09 season and the initial five months of 2009–10. Throughout the season, Arteta started to play in the center of the field once more, ordinarily being collaborated with a defensive midfielder. This gave him the opportunity to direct the rhythm of the game and associate with Pienaar and Osman on the flank. 

Arteta made his return from injury in January 2010 as a substitute in a FA Cup tie against Birmingham City, prior to starting a 2–1 home Premier League win against Chelsea. His first two goals of the season were scored in a 5–1 win over Hull City in March 2010. In August that year, he marked a five-year contract augmentation with Everton. 

The 2010–11 season end up being not as fruitful as expected for both the team and the player. After early goals in the season, against Manchester United in a spine chiller 3–3 comeback at Goodison Park, and in a 2–0 win in the Merseyside derby, Arteta endured a deficiency of form that would be vital in Everton's push for a European spot. He started to show again looks of creativity in the last period of the season, when he was played again on the flanks, appreciating more opportunity and space. 

After leaving Everton, Arteta said “I am 29 years old so I haven't got much time left to take a chance like this one. I have done my best for Everton" half a month later, he expressed that the soul in Everton's changing room is the 'best in football'. 

Arteta signed a contract with Arsenal on 31 August 2011 on a four-year deal for an announced expense of £10 million. He made his season opener game on 10 September in a 1–0 home win against Swansea City, and scored his first Premier League goal for Arsenal in a 4–3 loss against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park.

Arteta got his first opportunity to captain the Gunners in the third-round FA Cup triumph over Leeds United, a game in that denoted the subsequent Arsenal debut of Thierry Henry. Arteta endured a lower leg sprain in his side's 2–1 loss to Wigan Athletic on 16 April after less than ten minutes, which sidelined him for the rest of the season. In spite of this he made 29 appearances in the entire season, scoring 6 times, and was voted by the fans as the fifth most significant player of the 2011–12 campaign in Arsenal's Player of the Season survey. 

Following the exodus of captain Robin van Persie, Arteta was made Arsenal's vice-captain for the 2012–13 season. He was voted by the fans as the fourth best player of the 2012–13 campaign in Arsenal's Player of the Season survey, in the wake of driving the group to their seventeenth successive top four finish. He missed the start of 2013–14 because of injury, however, he returned to the team before the end of September, proceeding to score and then getting sent off in the same match, a 2–0 win away against Crystal Palace in October.

Arsenal got to the 2014 FA Cup Final, with Arteta scoring against previous club Everton in the quarter-final, just as in the semi-final shootout against Wigan Athletic. Arteta captained the side for the final match at Wembley, driving them to a 3–2 success against Hull City and accepting his first significant honor in English football. 

Arteta turned into Arsenal's new club captain ahead of the 2014–15 season. He won his first prize as full-time captain, playing the entire 90 minutes as Arsenal beat Manchester City 3–0 in the 2014 FA Community Shield. Regardless of his new appointment as the captain, he would only play in 11 appearances during the entire season, scoring only once. Arteta marked a one-year augmentation with Arsenal for the 2015–16 season and went ahead as a substitute as Arsenal beat Chelsea 1–0 to win the 2015 FA Community Shield, his first competitive appearance for the Gunners since November 2014.

His last game for Arsenal came on the last day of the season. Arteta came on as a substitute and pressured Aston Villa goalkeeper Mark Bunn into scoring an own goal after his shot went off the crossbar. He got an overwhelming applause along with a standing ovation from the team at full time.

International Career 

Arteta played for Spain at youth level. He played in the triumphant 1999 UEFA European Under-16 Championship campaign, at the 1999 UEFA–CAF Meridian Cup, 1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship, and captained the side in the 2004 U21 European Championships qualifying effort. In 2010, there were moves by the English FA and Fabio Capello to check whether Arteta could play for England national team, beliving he qualified under FIFA's five-year residency rule. FIFA precluded this, nonetheless, with Arteta asserting in an interview in 2016 that he "nearly went to war with FIFA" over the decision. 

Arteta was rumored to be in Spain's national team in February 2009, however, a cruciate knee ligament injury made him certain that his name should be taken out from the list before the team squad was declared. 

Arteta played when Spain had a few tremendously great players accessible in his position. 

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Style of play 

Arteta at first began playing as a number 10 in the Barcelona youth academy, and was subsequently moved to the position of a "pivot" or defensive midfielder, as he was believed to be a major part in the form of Pep Guardiola. He was evaluated as the 6th most affluent player in the Premier League in 2006–07 by the official player ratings framework, the Actim Index.

Arteta got back to his unique deeper midfield role at Arsenal, in which he dominated as his team’s playmaker, because of his technical abilities, vision, passing, tactical awareness, and strategic knowledge. His total of 12 league assists in the 2006–07 season was third to Cesc Fàbregas and Cristiano Ronaldo. With 100 fouls committed against him in the same season, he was the most fouled player in the Premier League. 

Reception

"I really get on with Mikel. He's always right. He’s a very good person, and a great coach. He has given me loads of advice. We speak a lot about my movements, how to run into the spaces behind the defence, what I should do with the ball and the specific moment to change my speed. He's always there for me."

– Leroy Sane on Arteta's coaching during their time at Man City

Arteta is loved by his players due to his intelligence, and rapport-building skills. 

Goal Celebration

Arteta’s famous celebration was to run around the stadium with open arms, shouting and chanting. He did not design a unique, stylish goal celebration unlike Alberto Gilardino or Paul Pogba. 

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Coaching Career

Arteta had three choices upon retirement. He was offered to lead the Arsenal Academy, by Arsène Wenger, join Mauricio Pochettino's (his former teammate from PSG) backroom staff at Tottenham Hotspur or join Pep Guardiola's coaching team at Manchester City. On 3 July 2016, Arteta was selected as the assistant manager at Manchester City, along with Brian Kidd and Domènec Torrent, who worked as aids to Pep Guardiola. 

Guardiola and Arteta initially met at the Barcelona youth academy, in spite of the fact that Guardiola had already established himself in the main team, being 11 years older than Arteta. From that point forward the two stayed in contact. Guardiola was persuaded that Arteta – who was an Arsenal player at that point – would make a decent mentor when he called him to get data on Chelsea, before their 2012 Champions League elimination rounds against Barcelona. 

In 2015, when Guardiola was leaving Bayern Munich, Arteta, in his last year as a player, decided to re-associate and cooperate. Arteta acted as Man City manager in a 2–1 Champions League loss against Lyon on 19 September 2018, because of Guardiola's touchline restriction. At Man City, Arteta won two Premier League titles, a FA Cup, and two EFL Cups. In 2018, Arteta turned out to be heavily linked with the Arsenal manager’s vacancy, following the exit of his previous manager, Arsène Wenger, yet Unai Emery was in the end employed. 

On 20 December 2019, Arteta was selected as manager at previous club Arsenal, signing a contract until 2023. Upon his arrival, he expressed that he accepted the club had lost the correct path to success and that he didn't want players to avoid duties: "I want people to take responsibility for their jobs and I want people who deliver passion and energy in the football club. Anyone who doesn’t buy into this, or that has a negative effect or whatever, is not good enough for this environment or this culture." 

On 1 January 2020, Arteta dominated his first match as an Arsenal manager after a 2–0 win over Manchester United at the Emirates. 

On 18 July 2020, Arsenal beat Arteta's previous employer Manchester City 2–0 in the FA Cup semi-final, driving Arsenal to their fourth FA Cup Final in seven years, and Arteta's first as a head coach. Arsenal proceeded to win the final match 2–1 over Chelsea for a record fourteenth triumph, making Arteta the first person to win the FA Cup as both player and manager of Arsenal.

Additionally, he turned into the first manager to win a significant trophy in his first season responsible for the club since George Graham in 1986-87. On 29 August, Arteta won his second prize as head coach after Arsenal beat Liverpool 5–4 on penalty shoot-outs in the FA Community Shield. On 10 September, Arteta's job was changed from head coach to manager. 

Mikel Arteta Outside Football

Since transitioning to coaching, the former middleman doesn't necessarily have to be linked to a permanent sponsor, sporting Nike trainers at Man City and Adidas at Arsenal.

While many modern-day athletes have a long list of sponsorship deals and actively support social media partners, Arteta has never been more prone to face than the football boots he wore.

Mikel Arteta Personal Life

In this section of

Mikel Arteta biography

, we will focus on his personal life and share some information to shed light on some matters, such as

Mikel Arteta religion

, or

Mikel Arteta life story

. 

Family, Children and Relationships

Arteta is multilingual, and is familiar with Spanish, Basque, Catalan and English. He talks some French, Italian and Portuguese as well.

He is married to Argentine-Spanish entertainer, TV host, and model Lorena Bernal. The couple have three kids: Gabriel (brought into the world in 2009), Daniel (brought into the world in 2012) and Oliver (brought into the world in 2015).

Philanthropy

Mikel Arteta has recently aided Heads Up mental health awareness campaign. He and his wife, Lorena Bernal, have been involved with the Global Gift Foundation, a charity that helps make a positive impact on the lives of women, children, and families.  

Legal Issues

Mikel Arteta has always been an ethical and didactic player and manager, thus, we can expect no legal issues in his record.

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Mikel Arteta Career Statistics

An intriguing part of Mikel Arteta biography is his career statistics. Below, we will provide you with a detailed list of Mikel Arteta career statistics.

Club

Arteta has played 539 games at club level since 1999, when he debuted for Barcelona B. In these 539 games, he managed to get on the scoresheet 74 times. Not too shabby for a playmaker who spent significant years of his career playing as a defensive midfielder. 

International

Although Arteta never played for Spain national team due to the presence of creative players such as Cesc Fabregas, David Silva, Iniesta, Xavi, and Xabi Alonso, he did manage to play for Spain youth teams. He played 42 games for Spain youth teams at different stages, scoring 7 goals. 

Managerial

As of now, Arteta has been in charge of Arsenal for 63 games, winning 33 games, drawing 12 and losing 18 games.  

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Mikel Arteta Honors

Arteta has won several awards as a professional football player, including UEFA Intertoto Cup, Scottish Premier League, FA Cup and FA Community Shield. He has also won Everton Player of the Season award for two consecutive years in 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 season. As a manager, he has won a FA Cup, and a FA Community Shield. 

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