The Daily Observer London Desk: Reporter- Judith Benjamin
Back in July 2016, Mikel Arteta’s mind was made up. Then 34 and recently retired, the Spaniard had the chance to stay and coach at Arsenal. Mauricio Pochettino wanted him on his staff at Tottenham, too. But Arteta had decided to join Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. Around that time, something else had crystallised in Arteta’s mind. It involved his former club and Per Mertesacker.
‘When he left us, he left (former CEO) Ivan Gazidis a note saying: “You are losing me now, you are asking too late”,’ Mertesacker recalls. ‘But he told Ivan: “You can’t lose this guy. Just put him somewhere.”’
Arteta and Mertesacker had arrived in north London on the same day – amid the ruins of Arsenal’s 8-2 defeat by at Manchester United in 2011. They spent five seasons together under Arsene Wenger. Now they are in tandem once more. Arsenal heeded Arteta’s advice and, in 2017, appointed Mertesacker as academy manager even before he stopped playing. Eventually, they listened to the German, too. After Wenger stepped down in 2018, Mertesacker recommended Arteta for the top job.
‘I put a good word in for him, without knowing how good he was as a coach,’ the academy boss says.
‘I knew how good he was as a human being and how much I trusted him.’
Mertesacker revealed Arteta recommended him for a job when the Spaniard went to Man City
Arteta and Mertesacker (holding the trophy) arrived at Arsenal on the same day back in 2011
Instead the job went to Unai Emery. ‘He called me when he didn’t get the job to say thank you.’
A year and a half later, however, Arteta was back. ‘It felt like the right time,’ Mertesacker says.
‘We couldn’t get it done in terms of league titles when we were here,’ he adds on their playing days. ‘Hopefully we can be more successful in terms of trophies and major titles, and hopefully build up the next generation of players.’
The signs are encouraging. Despite their recent wobble, Arteta’s side remain top of the Premier League.
‘Who would have thought it?’ Mertesacker says. The women’s team are 90 minutes from the Champions League final. And at the Emirates on Tuesday night, Arsenal’s U18s take on West Ham in the FA Youth Cup final. Manager Jack Wilshere was playing the last time they won the trophy in 2009.
‘It is a brilliant feeling that we have around this place, that we are creating,’ Mertesacker says. ‘It is based on the past we had together and it is really powerful.’
The 38-year-old German sensed similarities between himself and Arteta on their arrival in north London.
‘I was never thinking: “I am going to be academy manager and you are going to be the manager”,’ he says. ‘(But) we have traits of taking responsibility and wanting to take people with us. I felt that.’
In recent years, Mertesacker has developed a close relationship with sporting director Edu, too.
He is, in part, responsible for Wilshere’s new role at Arsenal, too. It was Mertesacker who coaxed the 31-year-old into starting his coaching badges when they were players here. It did not seem the midfielder’s obvious route.
The German originally recommended Arteta as manager when Unai Emery got the role in 2018
Mertesacker (right) sensed similarities between himself and Arteta (left) on arrival at Arsenal
