ROOMING with Ronaldinho is not something you forget in a hurry.
In January 2001, an 18-year-old Mikel Arteta arrived at Paris Saint-Germain alone and “terrified” after being shipped out on an 18-month loan from Barcelona’s famed La Masia academy.
In his first taste of men’s senior football, he was guided on the pitch by friend and mentor Mauricio Pochettino, a man who first inspired Arteta to go into management.
And by the summer of 2001, the now-Arsenal boss had a new roommate — a 21-year-old Brazilian signing called Ronaldinho, someone who opened Arteta’s eyes to the beautiful game.
More than two decades on, Arteta faces the Parisian giants for the first time as a manager on Tuesday, and cannot help but smile as he recalls what it was like sharing a room with a footballing legend known for his tricks and flair on the pitch . . . and mad partying lifestyle off it.
Asked what sort of roomie Ronaldinho was, Arteta grinned: “With me, he was always perfect.
“We were room-mates for a year. He was great. So much energy, so much fun, everything was good. Never a problem. Great times.
“I did not see him as a superstar at the time, obviously. But he was a huge talent.
“He was coming from Brazil. He didn’t have the work permit so he had to wait for a couple of months.”
A young Arteta was desperate to stay in Paris beyond his loan spell, only to be recalled by Barcelona and sold to Scottish giants Rangers in 2002 before arriving in England — via Real Sociedad — with Everton two-and-a-half years later.
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Ronaldinho’s stay at the Parc des Princes was also short but sweet, leaving for Barca in 2003 where he won the Ballon d’Or, two LaLiga titles and the Champions League across five years.
Arteta continued: “He’s the only player I have seen in history that could transform, by himself, two clubs. He did it in Paris, he transformed them. He went to Barcelona in one of the worst moments and transformed them.
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“He had an aura, an energy, a smile on his face . . . it was impossible to be next to him and be in a bad mood.
“And in training, I never saw a talent like this. In every drill, it was like: ‘How is this possible?’.
“It was unbelievable to play with him. I had to do all the defending because I had Ronaldinho and Jay-Jay Okocha in front of me. Imagine!
“It was super, almost unreal. It was a dream for me.
“I was so blessed and I had so much energy at that time. I couldn’t waste that opportunity — I enjoyed every minute of it.”
Arteta also has a strong friendship with current PSG boss — former Barca player and Treble-winning manager Luis Enrique, 54 — who he shares much in common with.
But Arteta, now 42, admits he owes a lot to his days in Paris for making him the man and manager he is today after being “protected like a son” in the “perfect environment”.
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A month after joining as an unknown teenager, he made his Champions League debut at the San Siro against AC Milan in a 1-1 draw.
Arteta said: “I was in the tunnel, I was looking . . . it was [ex-Milan owner Silvio] Berlusconi, [Paolo] Maldini, [Andriy] Shevchenko.
“I was looking, they were all like this [holds his hand up high]. I was like: ‘Really?’ I was thrown to the lions in Rome.
“But it turned out to be a really good match, which I really enjoyed. It was an unbelievable night.”
Arteta is hoping for another of those nights at the Emirates, having drawn their first Champions League outing 0-0 at Atalanta last month.
Last season, Arsenal were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Bayern Munich after a 1-0 second-leg defeat at the Allianz Arena on April 17.
Three days earlier, their title dreams had been damaged by a 2-0 home loss to Aston Villa.
Ahead of another gruelling title race and European run, Arteta said: “Last year we almost went all the way. We came up short, so that is something we have to do better, to prove. That’s the next step we have to make as a team.”
Gunners defenders Ben White (groin) and Riccardo Calafiori (knee) face late fitness tests.
