Two friends are pitted as foes this Saturday evening as Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth take on an Arsenal side led by his former childhood teammate Mikel Arteta.
The products of the Basque footballing hotbed that is Berio in San Sebastián played together throughout their school days. And while Arteta’s future as a manager was obvious, Iraola’s turn in the spotlight was far from pre-ordained. “Mikel was the kid that people came and said: ‘Who is that?!’” their former teammate Jon Ayerbe told The Guardian years later. “Andoni maybe didn’t stand out but he was elegant.”
