Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has provided details on his initial phone call with director Edu which convinced him to take the job.
Arteta has enjoyed an encouraging start to his managerial career, celebrating his first win with a convincing triumph over Manchester United on New Year's Day.
He was convinced to ditch his role as Manchester City assistant boss to return to the club where he spent five years as a player.
Arteta held several rounds of talks before opting to move back to the Emirates - but he has now revealed initial conversations with another ex-player, Edu, were crucial in his decision.
Arteta said: "I don’t know, sometimes it happens with people, but he (Edu) called me and we started to have a conversation which should have lasted just a few minutes and we went long.
"We shared a lot of things in our career and we have a lot of similarities. Then the way we were thinking about the situation and became very close and with the ideas.
"'I agree with that', 'I will do this', ‘me too’. It started to build that relationship like this.
"The chemistry was there to be fair from day one.
"He was part of the most exciting and successful times of this football club so he knows exactly what needs to be done."
Arteta was in the frame to become Arsenal manager when Arsene Wenger departed in 2018, only for Unai Emery to get the nod.
He was snubbed before Edu entered the frame, leaving his role with the Brazilian national team to become technical director.
The pair are looking to mastermind a revival of the north London club - but they might have to .
It comes after the club splashed £137million in the summer on five new players, including club record signing Nicolas Pepe for £72m.
