PSG ‘protected me like a son’, says Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta ahead of reunion

Mikel Arteta said Paris St Germain “protected him like a son” on the eve of his reunion with the side which handed him his professional debut.

Arteta was just a teenager when he was sent by Barcelona to the French club on loan, and on Tuesday night he will welcome them to the Emirates for the opening home clash of Arsenal’s Champions League campaign, with Luis Enrique – his former Barcelona team-mate – in the opposing dugout.

Arteta joined a star-studded PSG side which boasted the likes of Mauricio Pochettino, Gabriel Heinze, Jay-Jay Okocha and Nicolas Anelka. Ronaldinho was also on the brink of moving there.

“We were in Barcelona when we got the phone call that ‘you need to pack your bags and fly to Paris, now,’” said Arteta of his move to PSG in 2001.

“I was 18 years old, had not played any professional football and you look at those names at the club and you think, ‘are they sure?’ But you get there and Luis Fernandez was the manager and he was the one that believed in me.

“That is what you need, someone to give you the chance and to be surrounded by the right individuals, that I was very lucky to have.

“They protected me like a son. It was the perfect environment for me, to give me the chance, to see what I was capable of doing. It was an amazing experience. I wanted to stay there but I was owned by Barcelona and they couldn’t find an agreement.”

Arteta went on to play 53 times for PSG. He was also handed his Champions League bow by the Ligue 1 club in a 1-1 draw against AC Milan.

Recalling the match at the San Siro, the Spaniard added: “I was in the tunnel, I was looking around and there was (Paolo) Maldini, (Andrea) Pirlo, (Andriy) Shevchenko, and I was like, ‘really?’ I was thrown to the lions. But it turned out to be an unbelievable night.”

Arteta also revealed he shared a room with Ronaldinho, who had joined from Gremio. Ronaldinho would go on to win the World Cup with Brazil and Champions League at Barcelona. He also won the Ballon d’Or in 2005.

“We were room-mates for a year-and-a-half,” said Arteta of the player widely considered to be among the best of all time. “He was great, so much energy and so much fun.

“He was a huge talent. He’s the only player that I have seen in history that could transform, by himself, two clubs. He did it in Paris, he transformed them. He went to Barcelona in one of their worst moments and transformed them too.

“He had an aura, an energy, a smile on his face. It was impossible to be next to him and be in a bad mood. And I had never seen a talent like it. In training, in every drill, it was like, ‘How is this possible?’ It was unbelievable to play with him.”

Arteta will now be bidding to create an evening for Arsenal supporters to remember against a side that reached the semi-finals of the tournament last season.

The Gunners, who made the last eight before they were knocked out by Bayern Munich, are searching for their first win of the rejigged tournament following a goalless draw against Atalanta.

Asked if Arsenal now had the ingredients to go all the way, Arteta said: “We are going to find out, but we’re not thinking about it yet because we are still very, very far away, starting with a difficult game tomorrow night.”