Mikel Arteta once locked Arsenal players in the dressing room and even Arsene Wenger was scared

Theo Walcott has recalled the moment he realised Mikel Arteta was destined for success as a manager – and left Arsene Wenger petrified.

The Spanish joined Arsenal as a player in 2011 and spent five years under iconic Gunners manager Wenger before venturing into coaching under Pep Guardiola in city ​​of manchester.

Following a glowing reference from the City manager, Arteta was given his first managerial opportunity at the north London club in 2019.

Since then, Arteta has built one of the best youth teams in world football, turning his young Gunners into genuine title contenders.

According to his former teammate Walcott, Arteta displayed managerial traits during his playing days and recalled a particular situation that even made Wenger fear him.

“The turning point for me in terms of how I viewed Mikel Arteta was an experience I had with him as a player at Arsenal,” Walcott told the talkSPORT presenter. Simon Jordan on his Up Front with William Hill podcast.

“It was at a time when we weren't in the top four. We trained for 30 minutes and he locked all the players in the locker room, as if he were the coach.

“He was taking over the whole space and telling us what it was like. At that point it was like he was the director, and that was the turning point for me.

“Arsene Wenger was waiting for us to go out to train, but we didn't go out because Mikel interrupted training.

“He was such a strong character that even Arsène was afraid of him. So I thought he could become a coach.”

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Arteta has regularly spoken of his huge respect for the legendary Frenchman and admits to having adopted one of Wenger's key traits with his own group of players.

“I'm very grateful to have played for Arsene at this club in my career,” Arteta told Arsenal club media.

“He chose me to be one of his players and he selected me to be the captain of the club and that is something I will never forget.

“Towards the end of my playing career, I started talking to Arsene about the possibility of going into management and coaching myself, and he told me he had already planned on it.

“Even the first year I got here, he told me, ‘One day you’re going to be a coach,’ and at the time I wasn’t really thinking about that.”

The Arsenal manager continued: “I learned a lot from him and if I had to choose one of his many great values, it is his loyalty and how much he defended the club, its players and football in general.

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“The passion he has for the game is just phenomenal and it shows. He really wanted to respect the game and wanted it to be played in a certain way.

“Also, the way he always put the club ahead of any personal interest at all times is something I have tried to learn from him.

“The way he defended the club, the way he presented himself, the way he was loyal to the players and his coaching staff is something I really learned from him. “He is an example for me.”