Mikel Arteta Reveals How Chelsea’s Pochettino Helped His Career

Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta has described Chelsea’s current coach, Mauricio Pochettino, as a very influential person in his career.

Mikel Arteta who is a former Arsenal player and a former assistant coach at Manchester City was a free agent at Paris Saint Germain during the 2001-2002 season, the same period Pochettino was one of the biggest players at the club.

Mauricio Pochettino who is ten years older than 41-year-old Mikel Arteta ventured into coaching years before the Spanish tactician did.

Recall that Arteta became the coach of Arsenal in 2019 which was his first head coach job after serving under Pep Guardiola as an assistant coach for about three years.

Pochettino started his managerial career at Espanyol in 2009 before coaching Southampton and then coached Tottenham Hotspur to the 2019 UEFA Champions League final which they lost 2-0 to Liverpool.

After leaving Tottenham Hotspur in November 2019, the Argentine tactician went on to win the French Ligue 1 with Paris Saint Germain before taking on the managerial role at Chelsea in 2023.

Both Mikel Arteta of Arsenal and Mauricio Pochettino of Chelsea will meet at Stamford Bridge in a London derby at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 21.

Ahead of the meeting, Mikel Arteta said, “He [Pochettino] has been one of the most influential people in my career as a player.

“He took me under his wing and he looked after me like a little child. A little brother. He was a big part of the success I had in Paris.

“He has been a role model for me since that day, not only as a player but as a manager as well. He had a big say on that and I will always be grateful for what he has done for me.”