Before he became Arsenal manager in 2019, Mikel Arteta enjoyed a strong playing career which saw him feature for several different clubs.

Arteta gained an excellent footballing education as he played for teams in different leagues across a number of countries under managers with very different playing styles.

Whilst the Spaniard never hit the world-class levels of some of his teammates across his clubs, he was a very consistent and reliable player, without the flashiness of other players at the likes of Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal.

Arteta played alongside some world-class players at Arsenal, including Robin van Persie, Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez, but he believes one former teammate at PSG was better than them all.

Mikel Arteta praises PSG legend Ronaldinho ahead of Arsenal Champions League clash

Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of Arsenal’s Champions League clash with PSG, Arteta revealed how Brazilian legend Ronaldinho influenced him in his early days at the French club.

“Ronaldinho and me, we were roommates for a year and a half. I could not see him like this (turning into a global superstar) at the time, but he was a huge talent. He was coming from Brazil and he didn’t have the work permit, so he had to wait for a couple of months,” he revealed.

“But 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. Then he went to Barcelona in one of their worst moments and transformed them, too.”

Arteta then admitted that he had never trained with anyone better than Ronaldinho.

“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 never saw a talent like this in training – in every drill, it was like: How is this possible?” He added.

“Physically, it’s impossible to do certain things, but not for him. It was unbelievable to play with him. What was he like to room with? Great – again, so much energy, so much fun, everything was good. Never a problem. Great times.”

Ronaldinho was Mikel Arteta’s greatest-ever teammate

Arteta did play alongside Thierry Henry in a brief loan spell towards the end of the Frenchman’s career, but the Spaniard believes that Ronaldinho was his best-ever teammate across all of his clubs.

“It is obvious, Ronaldinho,” Arteta stated in 2021 when asked who was his best-ever teammate.

“When I was in Paris and I played with him, you cannot imagine the talent and the nature of his talent, and how simple things looked for him all the time.”

The Brazil superstar was a true great of the game, and Arteta played alongside him when he was a young midfielder settling in at PSG.

Whilst Arteta went on to have a good career, his legacy as a player pales in comparison to that of Ronaldinho, and the attacker would go on to become an all-time great at the likes of Barcelona and AC Milan.

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