Foot – England – Arsenal – Per Mertesacker wants to ‘give headaches’ to Mikel Arteta

England – Arsenal

The former German defender of the Gunners, now manager of the Arsenal Academy, talks about his relationship with his former Spanish teammate, current coach of the first team.

Per Mertesacker, manager of the Arsenal Academy, and former defender of the Gunners: “I was really happy that Arteta arrived at the club. He was captain when I was vice-captain, he asked me to stand by his side when we had to talk to the players. So he gives you some responsibility and he trusted me in a very special way. Now we are in a position that reminds us of the time when we were playing together and we have to trust each other.

I’m really very excited that we can move forward together because we have two key roles within the club, with Edu (technical director and former Gunner) also. It is a great opportunity for us to grow the club, we have already seen progress in the first team. Small progress but real progress is now being seen. We really want to give Mikel Arteta a headache. He must wonder what is going on within the Academy. Each year there are one, two or three players with the potential to enter the field. But I know his criteria, I know what he wants. So I have to prepare the players for the new environment of the first team so that they are ready. “

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