Mikel Arteta has urged Arsenal fans not
to compare him to former club captain
and fellow Spaniard Cesc Fabregas.
Arteta arrived at the Emirates Stadium
from Everton in August 2011, following
the sale of Fabregas to Barcelona and
Samir Nasri to Manchester City.
The former Rangers and Real Sociedad
player has made 34 appearances in all
competitions during his first season at
Arsenal, scoring five goals.
Like Fabregas, Arteta is a graduate of
Barca’s famed youth academy, but the
older man has asked for time before being
judged against his predecessor’s high
standards.
Arteta told The Evening Standard: “Cesc wasn’t
the same player in his first season as in his last,
so how can anyone expect me to be the Cesc
Fabregas of last season in my first?
“I knew because everybody was saying to me,
‘Mikel, you are going to go to Arsenal and it’s
going to be really tough for you because you are
going to be under so much pressure. Cesc is
leaving, Nasri is leaving, the team are not doing
well.’
“But I said, ‘I don’t care, I want to go to Arsenal.
Arsenal are the club I have to play for.’
“I will show that I am no Fabregas, I am no
Nasri, I am myself.
“I will try my best for the team. If people want to
compare me then it is up to them but I know that
if I do that, I am making a mistake on the first
day. I didn’t want to waste any time.
While Arteta does not wish to be directly
compared to Fabregas, he did seek out his
countryman for advice on Arsenal prior to
signing for the north London club.
“I have talked to Cesc a few times,” he said.
“I rang him when I was going to join because I
wanted to know things.
“When you have been in football in different
places, there are certain things inside the club
you have to know before agreeing to move there.
That’s what I asked him about and he was very
helpful.”
Arteta shrugs off cesc comparisms
