Arteta returns to the French club that ‘ignited' his career

It was an approach that Mikel Arteta almost immediately dismissed, although there was a moment’s consideration due to a previous connection.

- MIGUEL DELANEY

In the summer of 2023, Paris SaintGermain investigated whether the Basque would be interested in succeeding Christophe Galtier as coach. He’d already made Arsenal a competitive team again, and that’s one reason why he was never going to go. Arteta ultimately wants to be the first manager to bring the London club to glory in the Champions League, the competition in which they host PSG today.

The former midfielder was actually on loan at PSG when they won their last European trophy, if it can be even called that, given it was the 2001 Intertoto Cup. That now defunct qualification competition was shared with Aston Villa and Troyes, with Arteta taking his place on the bench for an awaygoal win against Roberto Baggio’s Brescia. This was the idiosyncratic nature of PSG at the time, that also represented a key juncture on the 42-year-old’s circuitous route to Arsenal.

A young and carousing Ronaldinho obviously stood out for Arteta as a teammate, which also spoke to the sense of spectacle that ran through PSG even then. The club were owned by media company Canal+, who exemplified one of the dominant ownership models at the time, in the same way Qatar Sports Investments do now. That was part of a trend influencing European football and the Champions League, all following on from Silvio Berlusconi at AC Milan. In what was a period that genuinely had more competitive diversity and balance in football, stars like Ronaldinho, Nicolas Anelka and Jay-Okocha were complemented by Frederic Dehu, Talal El Karkouri, Hugo Leal and Didier Domi. It was all under legendary French midfielder, Luis Fernandez. Among the names that became famous later were Gabriel Heinze, Mauricio Pochettino and – of course – Arteta himself.