“He is an example for everyone”: Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta heaps praise on PSG boss Luis Enrique ahead of UCL final

Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta took the opportunity to laud his former Barcelona teammate and current PSG boss Luis Enrique ahead of the Champions League final on Saturday, May 30, at the Puskas Arena in Budapest.

Speaking in an interview with Spanish media outlet Marca, Arteta was asked about what he would like to say to his rival manager Luis Enrique, who referred to the Arsenal boss as ‘Mikelito’ a few days back. The 44-year-old demanded respect for Enrique and earmarked his leadership qualities despite all the criticism he has faced throughout his career. “I remember him very fondly for how he was with the young guys and what he was like as a player. As a coach, he’s someone who has had the leadership to go down one path and, despite all the noise against him, keep going and end up winning the way he did. He’s an example for everyone,” remarked the Arsenal boss on Enrique.

PSG will head out in search of back-to-back Champions League titles on Saturday evening, while The Gunners will hope to get their hands on European silverware after the 2006 heartbreak to Barcelona at Stade de France.

“I respect all opinions, and then you have to decide what to do with them: give them importance, discard them, keep them as a memory, burn them, use them and they serve you well… There’s room for everything. My job is that if something isn’t enough for us to win, I can’t be satisfied. My job is to find other ways to ultimately win, to innovate, to find different approaches than before. And that’s what we’ve been doing all this time,” commented Arteta when asked about being too defensive in his approach in the Champions League this season.