Arsenal's new signing: Mikel Arteta

Mikel Arteta started his youth career in 1994 at the age of 12 at the amateur Spanish football club Antiguoko Kirol Elkartea in the Basque Country. This amateur club produced talent such as Xabi Alonso and Javier de Pedro. Arteta then moved to Catalonia, joining Barcelona's youth academy in 1997. In 1999, the Spanish midfielder started his senior career by playing for Barcelona's B team. He was loaned out to French club PSG between 2000 and 2002 to get match experience, and he played 31 league matches for the French club in which he scored 8 goals.

Arteta moved to one of Scotland's biggest teams in 2002: Glasgow Rangers. He spent 2 seasons at this club where he scored 12 goals in 50 league appearances. He moved back to Spain in 2004 to play for a club which is a parent club to Antiguoko Kirol Elkartea, the youth club where he started his football career. The midfielder was loaned out to Everton in 2005 and did enough to convince the club to sign him on a permanent deal. He played regularly for the club for 7 consecutive seasons, and was again set to be a key player in the 2011/12 season before he moved to Arsenal. For Everton, Arteta appeared 208 times in all competitions. He scored 33 goals and made 41 assists. He will be remembered in the club's history as one of the best players to play for the club. He wa stwice named player of the season for Everton: 2005/06 and 2006/07, as well as Players' Player of the Season in 2005/06, Sky Sports Midfielder of the Year in 2006/07 and North West Player of the Year 2006/07.

Mikel Arteta's wife is former Miss Spain, Lorena Bernal. He has a close friendship with Xabi Alonso, and while the latter played for Liverpool, the two used to be neighbours at the Albert Dock apartment complex in Liverpool. Arteta can speak English very well, as well as French, Italian, his mother tongue Spanish, and the Basque and Catalan languages.


Just minutes before the 2011 summer transfer window shut down, Mikel Arteta became Arsenal's fourth signing on the 31st August 2011. He joined the club for a reported £10 million on a four-year deal. He was signed to fill the boots of Cesc Fabregas who moved to Barcelona, and to strengthen the midfield department which was depleted following the departure of star players Fabregas and Nasri. Arteta will wear the number 8 jersey. This number was worn by Samir Nasri before he moved to Manchester City.




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