Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was destined to be a manager from his playing days according to Inter Miami defender Kieran Gibbs. Ex-England international Kieran Gibbs talked about the Arsenal manager in a chat with SkySportsas he said that anyone who shared the dressing room with Arteta will say that the Spaniard was destined to be a football manager.
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Gibbs and Arteta shared the Arsenal dressing room for a period of five years before the latter retired from professional football at the end of his spell in North London. They were Arsenal teammates from 2011 to 2016 when Arteta called time on his career as a professional footballer.
Arteta and Gibbs were part of the Arsenal team that won back-to-back FA Cup titles between 2014 and 2016.
Arsenal appointed Arteta as their permanent manager in December 2019 in the place of compatriot Unai Emery. Club legend Freddy Ljunberg was the caretaker manager for a few games between the managerial spells involving Emery and Arteta.
Arteta became the Arsenal manager on the back of his role as the assistant manager to Pep Guardiola at Premier League champions Manchester City. He won the FA Cup title in his first season with the Gunners despite taking charge of the team in the middle of the season.Arteta was in the Arsenal dugout when they beat Guardiola and Manchester City 2-0 during their 2019 FA Cup semi-final clash through a pair of goals from Gabonese international Pierre-EmerickAubameyang. Arteta and Arsenal would go on to win the 2019 FA Cup title after coming from behind to beat London rivals Chelsea 2-1 in the final.
The FA Cup title win from the 2019/20 season overshadowed finishing eighth at the end of the Premier League campaign. Arsenal also finished eighth in Arteta’sfirst full season.