“I had a talk with him”

Cătălin Cîrjan arrived at Arsenal in 2019 and played for several junior teams of the “gunners”. The Romanian midfielder has also trained with the big team several times, under the command of Mikel Arteta.

Cătălin Cîrjan was sold by Arsenal to Rapid in 2023 on loan, but the adventure in Giulesti was not auspicious, so the Romanian midfielder arrived at Dinamo in 2024, where he ended up becoming the captain of the team.

Cătălin Cîrjan spoke about Mikel Arteta's impact on his career: “He helped me a lot”

“He helped me a lot during that period. From the age of 16, he took me to the team's training. At 17, I was on the bench for a friendly match.

It helped me a lot after the surgery. I trained a lot with them. He always gave me advice. I had a talk with him. He told me that watching me play, he sees himself when he was young.

He found some similarities in our style of play. It was something extraordinary for me. There were also some players with whom I had a special relationship. I got on very well with David Luiz and Martin Odegaard. Mikel Arteta worked with us. He was always with us. There, the coaches see things differently,” said Cătălin Cîrjan, according to fanatik.ro.

Mikel Arteta, close to a historic double at Arsenal

Mikel Arteta is having an excellent season on Arsenal's bench, and the Gunners are still in contention for the Premier League title, but also close to the Champions League final.

Arsenal occupies the first place in the championship, with 73 points, having a 3 lead over Manchester City, which, however, has a game less played.

“The Gunners” are also favorites to qualify for the Champions League final, after they drew 1-1 away from home in the first leg of the semi-final with Atletico.