Mikel Arteta will greet a friendly face in the opposing dugout at Stamford Bridge on Saturday as he is re-united with his old teammate and colleague, Mauricio Pochettino.
The duo played together at Paris Saint-Germain in the 2001/02 season, before Mikel completed a move to Rangers. Mauricio would go on to speak to Mikel about getting into coaching further down the road.
“My first professional opportunity was in Paris and we arrived at the same time, and we lived together in the same hotel for three months,” Mikel recalled.
“He was critical; he’s been one of the most influential people in my football career - first of all as a player [because] he took me under his wing and he looked after me like a little brother. A big part of the success that I had in Paris was because of him because he really looked after me and gave me a lot of confidence and advice.
“He’s been a role model for me since that day, not only when I was a player but as a manager as well. I had to make the decision to leave playing and start my coaching career and he had a big say on that. I will be always grateful for what he has done for me.”
Mikel and Mauricio have seen each other ‘a couple of times’ since the latter became Chelsea head coach in the summer. But what was Mauricio’s advice to Mikel back in the late 2010s?
“Don't go into coaching, it's too hard! That was the first thing,” he joked. “I knew he was going to be a coach, I followed him very closely obviously because as a player he was already a leader, they way he understood the game, it was phenomenal. I used to have him constantly coaching me and I'm very proud of what he's done and especially the way he's done it through his coaching career.”
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