Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal will win the Champions League final against PSG and continue their dominance, says Theo Walcott | Football news

“I think he will continue to dominate. I do,” said Theo Walcott. He talks about Mikel Arteta and his Arsenal team. It has been a few days since the Gunners finished waiting for the trophy. Now, there is a sense that they are onto something big.

Beat the hosts Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final in Budapest and Arteta will take himself to another level altogether. Only Sir Alex Ferguson and Pep Guardiola have lifted that trophy again Premier League trophy with an English club.

It wasn’t long before the focus was on how he would be received if he failed. But opinions about Arsenal – and Arteta – are being reshaped in real time. They are one game away from doing what even Bertie Mee, George Graham and Arsene Wenger never did.

Arteta has been sponsored in preparation for this Champions League final. Luis Enrique will say that calling him ‘Mikelito’ was a pure reference to an old team-mate but it meant that. The subtle message from the PSG manager was that he was still his little boy.

Arteta has never been in Barcelona’s first team. Unlike his players, and the man who played in another stadium on Saturday with his 62 games, he did not become an overseas player. But Guardiola is defeated. Luis Enrique can now go the same way.

In Hungary, there is growing confidence. At the fan festival in Heroes Square, Arsenal fans sang the anthem. The youngster is invited to give a prediction for the hosts and they go 1-0 to Arsenal thanks to Gabriel’s header. They believe in Arteta’s Arsenal performance.

It’s been a journey to change that mindset. “He changed the culture of the club a lot,” said Walcott. And you understand better than most. Twenty years have passed since he signed for Arsenal as a teenager. He saw how things changed there.

Back in 2006, Arsenal were a force, being knocked out by Barcelona in that year’s Champions League final. When he left in 2018, they were no longer able to compete in the tournament. The road back to the top table of European football has been long and painful.

There were back-to-back eighth-place finishes in Arteta’s first two seasons. “Most managers don’t get that time, they don’t get that energy, they don’t get that support. But the club has that patience.” And Arteta’s career earned that patience.

Walcott talks to him Sky Sports I recently played in a five-a-side game at a fan festival in Heroes Square in Budapest. Arsenal fans there enjoy his presence, especially when he mimics Viktor Gyokeres’ celebration after scoring a goal. On the microphone, he plays to the crowd by talking when not if Arsenal win.

Walcott and Arteta were teammates for five years from 2011 to 2016. “It was his work ethic. He set examples, and he was always firm on habits, good habits. And sometimes, when the players didn’t want to do something, he made sure he would.”

It explains why former team players often believe in him. You will probably have seen the picture of Tim Cahill defending Arteta Sky Sports in 2020, pointing to the procedures that were being put in place by Arsenal, while Roy Keane could not look without negative consequences.

Cahill, who played alongside Arteta at Everton, was able to appreciate what he was building even when some Arsenal fans couldn’t see it. What Walcott calls “good habits” have taken root and are now, finally, reaping rewards.

“As a person, he is very strong,” explained Walcott. “I always felt when he came to the club, this was the man who was going to be the captain. But not that, I think it was the way he carried himself. He was always a man you wanted to listen to.”

Importantly, bonds are formed. “You have a relationship with the players. That connection, especially with the person rather than the player, helps. It really helps. You get that connection. When I go to the training ground, it’s great when you come in.”

There is another side to him, Walcott insists. Arteta told the story of how he found out that his team is the Premier League champion, his family ran outside to tell him because he couldn’t bear to watch the Manchester City vs Bournemouth match.

“He can switch off sometimes. I was lucky enough to go on holiday and he was there, and he had a good time with the kids, playing football.” Perhaps that will be Arteta soon this summer, given this season of seasons. But before that, immortality awaits.

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