Mikel Arteta

Mikel Arteta Amatriain (born 26 March 1982) is a Spanish professional football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach of Premier League club Arsenal. Born in San Sebastián, Arteta played as an attacking and defensive midfielder, and operated primarily as a playmaker. He was a youth player at Barcelona, but never featured for the first team, and made his senior debut as a loanee in Ligue 1 with Paris Saint-Germain in 2001. He signed for Scottish club Rangers in 2002, and won the domestic double of the Premier League and League Cup in his debut season. Following a brief stint with Real Sociedad, Arteta joined Everton on loan in 2005; he then signed permanently. He moved to Arsenal in 2011, where he won two FA Cups and served as captain from 2014, until his retirement in 2016. Arteta represented Spain through several youth levels, but never played for the senior national team. After retiring from football, Arteta immediately moved to coaching. He joined Manchester City, as assistant head coach to Pep Guardiola, in 2016. In 2019, he returned to Arsenal as head coach.