Spanish midfielder Mikel Arteta first sampled British Football when he joined Rangers from Barcelona on this day 20 years ago for a fee of just under £6m. Whilst his stay in Scotland was relatively brief, he would spend the majority of his career in the UK.
Arteta had first come to the attention of Rangers under manager Dick Advocaat when he was in the opposing PSG side defeated in the 2001/02 UEFA Cup run. Whilst Advocaat would shortly leave his role as Manager, Gers interest in the player remained strong and new manager Alex McLeish was happy to sanction a move to secure the services of the highly rated Spaniard.
Mikel had been part of Spain’s Under 16 National side which lifted the European Championship in 1999, a tournament that helped him earn a move to Barca.
Following a pre-season trip to the United States in preparation of season 2002/03, Mikel took his Ibrox bow in a glamour friendly versus AC Milan where he was up against former Ranger, Rino Gattuso.
Slotting into a central midfield partnership along side captain Barry Ferguson, his competitive debut came in the opening league match at Rugby Park which finished 1-1. After a fairly low key start to the title race, few could have predicted the drama that would unfold on the last day of the season as Mikel would score our 101st and final goal of a nail biting campaign. With both Rangers and Celtic destined to finish on 97 points the Championship was secured on goal difference and it was Mikel’s last minute penalty in a 6-1 win over Dunfermline that finally gave Gers a little breathing space.
It had been a promising first season for the 20 year old, he appeared in 27 of the 38 league matches netting 4 times including a goal on his Old Firm debut at Parkhead. The disappointment of an early Euro exit was softened by a League cup win over Celtic in March 2002 and Arteta collected his first piece of silverware. A crucial penalty in a 2-2 draw with Dundee at Dens Park in the league run-in was another huge moment for both Arteta and Rangers and he did not disappoint. Although the domestic treble was secured just over two months later, Mikel would miss out on the 1-0 win over Dundee at Hampden but his performances throughout the season did earn him Rangers’ Young Player of the Year award.
Injuries, rumours of homesickness and perhaps the shock sale of midfield partner Barry Ferguson at the start of season 2003/04 appeared to take its toll although his scoring record of 8 goals in 23 league appearances was a decent return. However, early exits in both domestic cups in addition to a poor League campaign took the shine off qualification to the European Champions League. Again, Arteta has shown his mettle in the qualifying round scoring a crucial penalty in Copenhagen. He would play in 4 of our 6 Group matches but despite a strong start against VFB Stuttgart we failed to make any real impact.
Arteta returned to Spain in the summer of 2004 before embarking on a successful career in England as a player with Everton and Arsenal and as a coach with Manchester City. He is currently manager of former side Arsenal.

by Rick Plews