Mikel Arteta, Arsenal manager, on USMNT HC Mauricio Pochettino: “He was a big part of the success I had in Paris”
Mikel Arteta is just days away from his biggest match as a manager, but before the UCL final, he gave a nod to his former teammate Mauricio Pochettino.
Two former teammates at PSG turned into long time friends and now they are both world class coaches. Decades later they are about to embark on the biggest moments of their managerial careers. Mikel Arteta and Mauricio Pochettino won’t be meeting on the touchline any time in the near future, but their past binds them, and the Arsenal coach knows that “Poch” helped him get to where he is today.
Poch played older brother to Mikel
It was just after the new year in January of 2001. Mikel Arteta was finding it hard to squeeze into a loaded Barcelona midfielder, so the Catalan club shipped a then 18 year old prospect to Paris in hopes that the youngster could get more playing time with PSG. It was an 18-month loan that would change the course of the future managers career.
Right around the same time the Parisian club brought in another transfer that would end up taking the young Spanish teen under his wing. Mauricio Pochettino came to Paris from Espanyol, and not only did they share the same hotel, but they were side by side for their first three months in France.
Mikel Arteta on his PSG memories of Mauricio Pochettino: 'It was my first professional opportunity in Paris and we arrived at the same time and lived together in a hotel … Firstly as a player, he took me under the arm and looked after me like a little child, a little brother' pic.twitter.com/QioP3zyW8T
— Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) October 20, 2023
“It was my first professional opportunity in Paris. And we arrived at the same time. We lived together in the hotel for three months. He was critical. He’s been one of the most influential people in my career,” said the current Arsenal manager, who will be going up against his former club in the Champions League final on Saturday.
The 28-year old Poch had been around the block, and showed Arteta the ropes of what a professional player is supposed to do on and off the pitch. “He took me under the arm like this and looked after me like a little child. Like a little brother. That was a big part of the success that I had in Paris, it was because of him.”
Arteta aiming for historic double
While Arteta may have needed some guidance with the everyday life of being a teenager in a foreign country, but Poch said Arteta needed no guidance when it came to knowledge of the game. “He was already a coach,” Poch remembered of their time together back in Paris. “He was giving advice to me and the others. [I’d] say ‘wow!’ – the character, the personality, the charisma. He already had the football brain.”
Arteta stayed with PSG for a year and a half, and the relationship with Pochettino continued to grow eve after he left the club. Rangers came calling for the services of the Spaniard, and offered Barcelona €6 million, but the influence of his playing and later coaching mentor had a lasting affect. “He really looked after me. He gave me a lot of confidence, a lot of advice, and he’s been a role model for me since that day. Not only when I was a player, but when I was a manager as well,” said Arteta.
🎙Mikel Arteta, when asked by TNT Sports about the possibility of winning a double.......
— Arsenal Radar (@ArsenalRadar) May 22, 2026
🗣 "I imagine it every day now.
"I'm going to work towards that and convince every single person here - the supporters and especially the players - to go to Budapest and bring that cup to… pic.twitter.com/zWle9aErw0
Pochettino went into coaching before Arteta, and actually offered him a job on his coaching staff while at PSG shortly after his mentee hung up his boots. Arteta joined fellow Spaniard, Pep Guardiola at Manchester City before taking the reigns at Arsenal. “We have to make a decision to leave playing and start my coaching career and he had a big say in that and I will always be grateful to him for what he’s done for me.”
This weekend Arteta can lead Arsenal to what would be a historic double to cap one of the best seasons in club history. After leading the Gunners to their first league title in over two decades, Arsenal have a chance to win their first Champions League trophy on Saturday against PSG. Meanwhile Pochettino is preparing the USMNT for the World Cup that will be co-hosted on home soil this summer.
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