Mikel Arteta once locked Arsenal players in the dressing room and even Arsene Wenger was scared
Theo Walcott has recalled the time he realised Mikel Arteta was destined for managerial success and left Arsene Wenger petrified.
The Spaniard joined Arsenal as a player in 2011 and spent five years under iconic Gunners boss Wenger before venturing into coaching under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
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Following a glowing reference from the City boss, Arteta was handed his first management opportunity back at the north London club in 2019.
Since then, Arteta has built one of world football’s finest young sides whilst turning his youthful Gunners into genuine title contenders.
According to former teammate Walcott, Arteta demonstrated managerial traits during his playing days and recalled one particular situation that even left Wenger afraid of him.
"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," Walcott told talkSPORT host Simon Jordan on his Up Front podcast with William Hill.
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"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.
"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. That's when I thought he could go on to be a manager."
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Arteta has regularly spoken of his high regard for the legendary Frenchman and admits adopting one of Wenger’s key traits with his own set of players.
"I'm so grateful to have played for Arsene at this club in my career,” Arteta told Arsenal club media.
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"He chose me to be one of his players and selected me to be the captain of the club and that's something I will never forget.
“Towards the end of my playing career, I started to speak with Arsene about going into coaching and management myself, and he told me he had already anticipated that.
“Even the first year when I got here, he said to me, 'One day you are going to be a manager', and I wasn't really thinking about that at that time.”
The Arsenal boss continued: "I learned so much from him and if I had to pick one of his many great values, it is how loyal he was and how much he defended the club, its players and football in general.
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“The passion he has for the game is just phenomenal and you could see that. He really wanted to respect the game and he wanted it to be played in a certain way.
"Also, the way he always put the club in front of any personal interest at all times is something that I have tried to learn from him.
“The way he defended the club, the way he presented himself, the way he was loyal to the players and his staff is something that I really took from him. He is an example for me."
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