‘In love’… £158k-a-week Arsenal man says he really likes Barcelona after links

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Mikel Arteta is Arsenal through and through.

Since arriving in north London as a player in 2012, the Spaniard has completely immersed himself into life at Arsenal, and it’s fair to say he loves the club.

Arteta can’t speak highly enough of Arsenal and their values, and he even used to refuse to celebrate goals against the Gunners back when he was a coach at Manchester City.

However, Arsenal weren’t Arteta’s first love.

The Arsenal gaffer grew up as a Barcelona fan, and speaking to Stadium Astro, he’s gone into how much he loved Barcelona as a child and his time in the club’s academy.

Interestingly, this comes just a few weeks after Arteta was linked with the Barcelona job after it was announced Xavi will be leaving the club at the end of the season.

Mikel Arteta really likes Barcelona

The £158k-a-week man spoke about his relationship with the Spanish giants.

“The Barcelona DNA, Johan Cruyff and his philosophy, does that have an impact on you?” Arteta was asked.

“He had since I was six years old I fall in love with that team. Johan, Pep was a part of that team. At 14 I had the chance to go to Barcelona, it was my dream. I had the best time of my life. I was there since I was 14 to 17 over there,” Arteta said.

Future manager

Mikel Arteta has dismissed the idea of leaving Arsenal for Barcelona at this moment in time, but let’s face it, Arteta won’t be at Arsenal forever.

The Spaniard will, eventually, want another challenge, and it’s really easy to see a future in which Arteta does head to Camp Nou at some point.

That point in time may well be 10 years away, but with the gaffer admitting he has such a strong connection to the La Liga champions, we could see him in the dugout in Catalonia one day.