Mikel Arteta

Early career

Born in San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain, Arteta began his football career at Antiguoko and befriended fellow midfielder Xabi Alonso as they played together every weekend. The two often played along the beaches and gutters of San Sebastián and dreamed of playing together at Real Sociedad. Arteta left San Sebastián aged 15 in July 1997, with Antiguoko teammates Jon Alvarez and Mikel Yanguas, to trial with Barcelona's youth academy, La Masia. The trio played three trial games and all earned professional contracts with the club. Housed in dormitories, the academy lifestyle was notoriously strict and Arteta's Antiguoko teammates would leave the academy shortly after arrival. It was in these dormitories where Arteta would become room-mates and friends with Víctor Valdés and Andrés Iniesta as teenagers. Arteta also became a friend of Xavi Hernández during his tenure at La Masia. Arteta met then-Barcelona captain and his future coaching mentor Pep Guardiola during this time, while learning the practices of their then-head coach Louis van Gaal.

Arteta trained regularly with Van Gaal's first team but was limited only to appearances in Spain's Segunda División B with Barcelona B. Following Van Gaal's departure from the club on 20 May 2000, incoming coach Lorenzo Serra Ferrer brought Emmanuel Petit and Gerard López into Barcelona's midfield, pushing Arteta further back into a queue which already included Guardiola, Luis Enrique, Phillip Cocu, Iván de la Peña, Xavi and Iniesta. La Masia teammate Jofre Mateu believed that Arteta wouldn't make it at Barcelona purely because of his competition, explaining in 2023, "Everyone knew he had a chance because of his quality but Xavi was extraordinary and Iniesta could play every position. I wasn't expecting him to be a Barcelona star because of the others." With administrative changes in La Masia during the 2000–01 season, Arteta and a number of his club mates quickly learnt that their futures were no longer with Barcelona.