Arsene Wenger was 'afraid' of Mikel Arteta during time together at Arsenal as Theo Walcott explains pair's interesting dynamic

Mikel Arteta has arguably been Arsenal's best manager since Arsene Wenger and Theo Walcott believes the Spaniard was always meant to be a manager.

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WHAT HAPPENED?

While Arteta is yet to win a Premier League trophy with Arsenal, the Spaniard has definitely pulled the Gunners out of their downward spiral as they have gone on to challenge Manchester City for the Premier League title for two straight seasons. Walcott, his former teammate at Arsenal, has revealed an instance during their time under Wenger, where the Spaniard showed that he was always going to become a top manager.

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WHAT WALCOTT SAID

Featuring on William Hill’s Up Front with Simon Jordan, Walcott said: "The turning point for me in terms of how I viewed Mikel Arteta was an experience I had with him as a player at Arsenal.

"It was at a time when we weren’t making the top four. We had training in 30 minutes and he locked all the players in the dressing room as if he was the manager. He was taking control of the whole space and telling us how it is. In that moment it was like he was the manager, and that was the turning point for me. That’s when I thought he could go on to be a manager.

"Arsene Wenger was waiting for us to come outside for training but we weren’t coming out because Mikel stopped the training session. He was such a strong character that even Arsene was afraid of him."
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THE BIGGER PICTURE

Arteta became Arsenal manager in the winter of 2019 following his departure as Pep Guardiola's assistant at Manchester City. He succeeded Unai Emery after the former Paris Saint-Germain coach failed to leave an impression on the Gunners across his year and a half at the Emirates Stadium. With Arteta in charge, Arsenal went on to win the 2019-20 FA Cup and subsequently won the FA Community Shield the next season.

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WHAT NEXT FOR ARTETA?

The workaholic Spaniard will likely be hard at work as he will look to have the best possible pre-season and prepare his young side to embark on yet another title battle and hopefully win the league this time around.

WHAT HAPPENED?