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🇳🇴 Norway /Sports

The remarkable backstory of the Premier League bosses: “Absolutely phenomenal”

From Aftenposten · () Norwegian

Translated from Norwegian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso grew up five minutes apart and played together at Basque club Antiguoko Kirol Elkartea in San Sebastian.
  • Their childhood teammate Andoni Iraola also became a top-level manager, while Arteta and Alonso later became neighbors and rivals in Liverpool.
  • Arsenal and Chelsea’s Sunday meeting adds another chapter to the friends’ long journey from youth football to the Premier League.

Mikel Arteta and Xabi Alonso lived five minutes apart, played for the same club and now manage two Premier League teams. “It is truly remarkable,” Arteta told Men in Blazers.

It is truly remarkable.

· Mikel ArtetaArteta reflected on growing up near Alonso and now managing a Premier League club each.

Their story began at Antiguoko Kirol Elkartea, a small club in San Sebastian. Alongside Andoni Iraola, they rose through the ranks there before building successful playing careers. Alonso recalled going to the beach with Arteta to play tennis, surf and, naturally, football. Arteta was slightly younger, but Alonso described him as “a competitive monster.”

The friendship grew from a shared obsession with sport. “It is a love for the game that you cannot teach,” Alonso wrote in The Players Tribune in 2024. “You are born with it, and that made us very close.” Arteta has also remembered their youth team as a group that won everything, including matches against Real Madrid and other major teams, as well as tournaments abroad.

I was very lucky to have a friend in the neighborhood who was also crazy about football. His name was Mikel.

· Xabi AlonsoAlonso described his childhood friendship with Arteta.

Arteta later left for Barcelona’s academy, while Alonso and Iraola continued their development at Athletic and Real Sociedad. Years later, Arteta and Alonso were reunited in England. When Arteta joined Everton in 2005, Alonso was already playing for Liverpool. The childhood friends lived in neighboring apartments, only a few doors apart.

He was a competitive monster.

· Xabi AlonsoAlonso recalled Arteta’s character as a young player.

Their rivalry remained intense but friendly. “It was healthy rivalry, it was not hatred, but it was rivalry,” Arteta said. Both later moved into coaching, with Arteta working as Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City before taking charge of Arsenal. Alonso moved from Real Sociedad’s youth setup to Bayer Leverkusen, Real Madrid and now Chelsea. Their next meeting comes on Sunday, another unexpected chapter in a journey Alonso once imagined would leave them both “very happy” and “very shocked.”

It was healthy rivalry, it was not hatred, but it was rivalry.

· Mikel ArtetaArteta described living near Alonso while they played for Everton and Liverpool.
About this summary

Originally published by Aftenposten in Norwegian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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