Arsenal struck gold without even realising it when they signed Mikel Arteta from Everton in 2011, but his playing career path could have been very different.
Arteta was a strong performer for David Moyes, whom he is now reliant on to help his Arsenal side win the Premier League title this season.
The former midfielder had joined Everton from Real Sociedad, initially on loan, but if he did not make one previous move, he may not have ended up in the Premier League.
The Spaniard was part of Barcelona’s La Masia academy, but he never made a senior appearance for the club, and he has now lamented that he could not fulfil his dream of playing for the Blaugrana.
Mikel Arteta reveals his previous dream of playing for Barcelona
Speaking in an interview with the BBC, Arteta revealed the process he went through as he moved to Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona.
“I was 17 years old, and it was in the middle of the season. I was playing with the Barcelona B-team already, which at that time, was very competitive already, and I got a phone call from my agent,” he stated.
“I said listen, Luis Fernandez is the coach of PSG. Luis wanted to take me to Athletic Bilbao about a year or two before, and at 16, he wanted to take me to the first team at Athletic Bilbao.
“He said ‘if you come there now, you’re going to play with me,’ and I was like 16 years old, and I wanted to stay in Barcelona. When he was named the manager at PSG, he said ‘yeah come and you’re going to play for me.’
“At the time they had (Nicolas) Anelka, Ronaldinho, (Jay-Jay) Okocha, (Mauricio) Pochettino, Frederic Dehu.
“It was a team of stars, and I said ‘I haven’t played any professional football yet’ and he just said on the phone ‘trust me, I believe in you; so we took the bags and we went to Paris.
“It was a difficult decision, because my dream was to play for Barcelona, but I think at the time, I had to be very realistic. Pep (Guardiola) was in his prime, and Xavi Hernandez was not even playing at the time.
“I said ‘I know I don’t have the chance at the moment, so I need to maybe try a different path and experience’ then we made the call and we moved to Paris.”
How PSG loan spell impacted Mikel Arteta’s career
Arteta only spent one season at PSG before joining Rangers, but his footballing experience in Paris gave him lessons he carries to this day.
His relationship with Pochettino is one he cherishes to this day, and he has recently praised his former teammate, who is currently managing Chelsea.
Arteta also played alongside Gabriel Heinze, who would go on to play for Manchester United and Real Madrid, and he has been named as a potential candidate to join Arsenal’s coaching staff to reunite with Arteta.
READ MORE: All Mikel Arteta signings at Arsenal ranked from worst to best
PSG did want to keep Arteta after a productive season as a teenager, but he went to play for Rangers in Scotland instead, and his move to Glasgow helped him develop before returning to Spain to play for Real Sociedad.
Without his loan to PSG, and the difficult decision of leaving Barcelona, Arteta may not have followed the path which eventually took him to Arsenal, and which then saw him win trophies as a captain, before returning to helprevive the sleeping giant as a manager.
