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THEY are the two hottest young bosses in Europe — the schoolboy soulmates standing on the verge of history.
A pair of amigos whose footballing path began as kickabout pals on the beaches of San Sebastian and has every chance of ending in title-winning triumph.
In North London, Mikel Arteta is driving Arsenal ever closer to being crowned kings of the Premier League after a two-decade drought.
And nearly 400 miles away, Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen could become Bundesliga champions for the first time on Sunday.
It is a remarkable story for the Basque buddies and the tiny Spanish youth club Antiguoko, where they formed the midfield heartbeat as ten-year-olds.
And their former coach, Roberto Montiel, is bursting with pride over his two prize graduates.
Montiel, now vice-president of the amateur club with no adult team, said: “Mikel always played ahead of his age group and showed a lot of maturity despite being a little boy. Right away, we knew he could make it at a professional level.
“He’s the best player I have ever seen at Antiguoko, better even than Alonso, and I think he had the idea of being a coach a long time before he hung up his boots.
“Arteta would watch me coach some of the teams and afterwards bombard me with ideas and suggestions of how to change things around!
“He was still only young but I could see he was engineering the idea of coaching.
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“I would laugh because he’d tell me where my team was failing and where I had to use the scalpel to make changes!”
While Arteta’s destiny seemed predestined, it was not as immediately obvious with Alonso.
Montiel added: “Xabi was a small lad, who didn’t bulk up until the Under-17s.
“But he organised play very well and was a commanding presence without being very bossy.
“He was a bit introverted but transformed when on the pitch. He was never someone who needed to shout a lot — a few words was all it took.
“But he was always highly respected and when Xabi said something, everyone respected it.”
Mikel’s best player I have ever seen at Antiguoko, better even than Alonso.
Roberto Montiel
Montiel remains close to both Antiguoko’s star pupils.
And the sell-on windfall from Alonso’s sale to Liverpool from Real Sociedad in 2004 paid for a new clubhouse.
Montiel reckons there is something unique about the club that also produced Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola.
He said: “I think it’s because of the demands we put on them as kids, from a very young age.
“It is a culture where they never surrender — Antiguoko is a school of life.”
How Xabi Alonso transformed Bayer Leverkusen
Bayer Leverkusen are the story of European football this season after being transformed by Xabi Alonso. CHARLIE WYETT looks at this stunning turnaround at the BayArena.
FROM RELEGATION BATTLERS TO CHAMPIONS-IN-WAITING, IS THIS ALL DOWN TO ALONSO?
In a nutshell, yes. He was appointed on October 5, 2022 when Leverkusen were second from bottom in the Bundesliga with five points from their opening eight games but incredibly, they ended up finishing sixth.
Now, they are 16 points clear of Bayern with six games left.
WHAT ARE HIS TACTICS?
A hallmark of Alonso teams is a commitment to a fast-paced approach. With the ball, he likes to dominate possession and play in compact triangles but, a bit like Jurgen Klopp, he likes to get the ball up early into the final third.
This season, 3-4-2-1 has become his preferred formation, with three centre-backs, wing-backs, a double-pivot in midfield and three forward players.
WHAT ABOUT HIS TRANSFER BUSINESS?
All eyes in Germany last summer were on Harry Kane’s arrival at Bayern Munich but Leverkusen delivered some clever work in the transfer market.
They lost last season’s 14-goal top scorer Moussa Diaby to Aston Villa for £43million but spent the money wisely.
Granit Xhaka arrived from Arsenal and is known as The King. Germany winger Jonas Hofmann joined for just £8.5m and left-back Alejandro Grimaldo was snapped up from Benfica on a free tranfer.
Victor Boniface, top scorer in last season’s Europa League with six goals, signed from Union Saint-Gilloise for just £17.2m.
SO WHAT ARE LEVERKUSEN’S STRENGTHS?
They have been scintillating up front. Attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz, 20, has been outstanding, along with Xhaka, centre-back Jonathan Tah and joint top-scorer at Euro 2020 Patrik Schick.
Nigerian Boniface was a huge success until his injury at the Africa Cup of Nations but he has just returned.
WHAT WAS THE REACTION WHEN ALONSO CONFIRMED HE WOULD STAY FOR NEXT SEASON?
As you would expect, the club’s fans — fearing their manager was off to Liverpool or Bayern Munich — were absolutely delighted. But inside the club there was not much surprise.
Sporting director Simon Rolfes enjoys a great relationship with Alonso, who earns £5m-a-year.
DID HE EXPECT TO DO
THIS WELL?
In his first press conference of the season, Alonso was asked whether he was aiming for the Bundesliga title. He surprised the journalists by saying: “August is not the time to speak about medals but let’s see in May . . . ”
WHO WILL THEY SELL NEXT?
The club have a remarkable record of nurturing and selling top talent, including Kai Havertz (Chelsea) and Son Heung-min (Tottenham).
Now, it looks as though Wirtz could be next, although he would cost over £100m. Arsenal full-back target Jeremie Frimpong, 23, has a £34m release clause.
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