Arsenal's new boss Mikel Arteta was always destined to go into management - according to his former teammate Ronald de Boer .
The Spanish coach signed a three-and-a-half year contract with Arsenal on Friday to become the club's permanent successor to Unai Emery.
It will be Arteta's first experience of life in the hotseat, and comes just three years after he hung up his boots.
But de Boer believes the 37-year-old will be a hit, and noticed the signs during their time together at Rangers more than 15 years ago.
"From my own time at Barca, I could speak Spanish," de Boer told the Sunday Post . "So there was a natural coming together between Mikel and I.
"We spent a lot of time together. I became a father figure to him.
"His eyes were always open and he was always prepared to listen. He wanted to learn.
"Some days we would spend hour after hour, talking about the game over coffee.
"You can never be certain but I did get a feeling - even back then when he was so young - that he had a desire to get into coaching.
"That has turned out to be the case."
Arteta has spent the three-year gap away from Arsenal learning under the tutelage of Pep Guardiola as his no.2 at Man City.
He was interviewed for the Arsenal job at the end of Arsene Wenger's reign, but Unai Emery was chosen instead.
However de Boer feels it was a matter of time before Arteta was handed an opportunity, as his potential was always clear.
"I told the club [Rangers] to look after Mikel and work closely with him because they had a rough diamond," he added.
"They had to polish him up a little bit to make him shine.
"Soon after that, he too had left, back to his hometown club, Real Sociedad in San Sebastian.
"He then went on to to have a great career at Everton and Arsenal. He became the captain and showed he was a leader.
"That's when you know you have the qualities to go into coaching and management."
