5 players who you did not know played for Barcelona

#4 Mikel Arteta

Mikel Arteta in action for Barcelona

The current Arsenal boss is receiving plaudits for improving the situation of the Gunners after replacing Unai Emery at the helm. Slowly but surely, there is a clear style of play developing which is a positive sign for the rest of the season and the future.

His coaching stint at Manchester City under Pep Guardiola must have helped, but to credit that solely would be a mistake. He has always been a student of the game. Under Arsène Wenger at Arsenal, he was the coach on the field, dictating play and spraying passes all over.

It starts to make sense when we realise that Arteta did his football schooling at La Masia, Barça's famed youth academy. He was part of the first team for 6 months from July 2000 to January 2001. A loan move to PSG was followed by a €7.90 million move to Rangers. In spite of not succeeding at his boyhood club, he went on to have a successful career ahead.

His way of seeing the game is what convinced Guardiola to hire him as part of his coaching staff and Arsenal to approach him mid-season. He joins an illustrious list of coaches to come out of La Masia.