'His Style And Mannerisms Similar To Guardiola' - Babangida Says Ex-Barca Teammate Arteta Destined To Be A Coach

Published: March 27, 2020

Retired Nigeria international Haruna Babangida says former Barcelona teammate Mikel Arteta was destined to become a coach.

Babangida and Arteta roomed together during their days at Barcelona's famed La Masia Academy and the Nigerian has revealed that the Spaniard showed signs of becoming a future manager whilst still a teenager.

Although the Gunners first-team coach had labelled Babangida, who was then fifteen, the best player in the world, the pacy winger did not get to make his competitive debut in his seven-year stint with Barcelona.

"The first thing to say is that Mikel was a lovely boy and a good friend. We were in the same room and he was sleeping under me on those up-and-down bunk beds," said Babangida to the Athletic (subscription required).

"Mikel has always done things right but he would never have believed he would become Arsenal manager.

"But I did see signs. He was a player who you knew understood the game. "

He went on to liken Arteta to Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola, saying he was calculative on the pitch and possessed leadership traits.

"He made the right passes, gave the right instructions. He was a leader and even at the time, his style and mannerisms were similar to Pep Guardiola, who I also trained with a lot.

"You could tell that one day they would both be coaches," Babangida added.

Babangida scored 42 goals in 110 appearances for Barcelona's B team, and had spells with teams in Ukraine, Greece, Cyprus, Russia, Germany, Netherlands, Austria and Malta before hanging up his boots.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : arsenal.com