Arteta began his senior club career at Barcelona in 1999, but limited playing time led to a loan move to Paris Saint-Germain in 2001, where he won the UEFA Intertoto Cup in his second season.

Born in San Sebastián, Basque Country, Arteta began his football career at Antiguoko and befriended fellow midfielder Xabi Alonso as they played together every weekend.

[3] Arteta left San Sebastián aged 15 in July 1997, with Antiguoko teammates Jon Alvarez and Mikel Yanguas, to trial with Barcelona's youth academy, La Masia.

[4] Following Van Gaal's departure from the club on 20 May 2000, incoming coach Lorenzo Serra Ferrer brought Emmanuel Petit and Gerard Lopez into Barcelona's midfield, pushing Arteta further back into a queue which already included Guardiola, Luis Enrique, Phillip Cocu, Iván de la Peña, Xavi and Iniesta.

[4] La Masia teammate Jofre Mateu believed that Arteta wouldn't make it at Barcelona purely because of his competition, explaining in 2023, "Everyone knew he had a chance because of his quality but Xavi was extraordinary and Iniesta could play every position.

"[4] With administrative changes in La Masia during the 2000−01 season, Arteta and a number of his club mates quickly learnt that their futures were no longer with Barcelona.

On 17 February 2001, Arteta made his French Division 1 debut coming off the bench in the 34th minute for Vampeta in a 1−0 defeat against rivals Marseille, away at the Stade Vélodrome.

[8] During Arteta's second season with PSG, he won the 2001 UEFA Intertoto Cup in the summer, watching both two-legged final games against Brescia from the bench.

However, Alonso left for Liverpool and Arteta failed to establish himself in the team,[3] starting only three league matches in the half-season he spent back in San Sebastián.

[22] Arteta's creativity was an essential part of Everton's attacking play the following season,[citation needed] and he had scored six goals by the end of January.

He helped Everton secure a place in the UEFA Cup and was ranked by the ACTIM Index as the sixth best player in the Premier League, but it did not earn him a call-up into the full Spain squad.

[citation needed] Arteta suffered a stomach injury in the second half of the season, and shortly before the final game of the campaign, he underwent surgery to rectify the problem.

In February, Arteta was carried off on a stretcher in a 0–0 draw with Newcastle having injured a ligament in his knee, days after his first inclusion in the Spain national team squad.

[citation needed] Arteta made his return from injury in January 2010 as a substitute in an FA Cup tie against Birmingham City, before starting in a 2–1 home Premier League win against Chelsea.

After early goals in the season, against Manchester United in a thriller 3–3 comeback at Goodison Park, and in a 2–0 win in the Merseyside derby, Arteta suffered a loss of form that would be crucial in Everton's push for a European spot.

[27] He made his debut on 10 September in a 1–0 home win against Swansea City,[28] and scored his first Premier League goal for Arsenal in a 4–3 loss against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park.

[29] Arteta got his first chance to captain the Gunners in the third-round FA Cup victory over Leeds United, a game in that marked the second Arsenal debut of Thierry Henry.

He missed the beginning of 2013–14 due to injury, but returned to the squad by the end of September,[33] going on to score and be sent off in the same match, a 2–0 win away to Crystal Palace in October.

[34] Arsenal reached the 2014 FA Cup final, with Arteta scoring against former club Everton in the quarter-final, as well as in the semi-final shootout against Wigan Athletic.

[35][36] Arteta captained the side for the final at Wembley, leading them to a 3–2 win against Hull City and receiving his first major honour in English football.

[38][39] He won his first trophy as full-time captain, playing the full 90 minutes as Arsenal beat Manchester City 3–0 in the 2014 FA Community Shield.

[citation needed] In 2010, there were moves by the English FA and Fabio Capello to see if Arteta could represent England, believing he qualified under FIFA's five-year residency rule.

[48][49] Arteta initially started out playing as a number 10 in the Barcelona youth system, and was later shifted to the position of a "pivot" or defensive midfielder, as he was thought to be a player in the mould of Pep Guardiola.

On 3 July 2016, Arteta was appointed an assistant coach at Manchester City,[58] alongside Brian Kidd and Domènec Torrent, who operated as deputies to Pep Guardiola.

Guardiola was convinced Arteta – who was an Arsenal player at the time – would make a good coach when he called him to get information on Chelsea, prior to their 2012 Champions League semi-finals against Barcelona.

[66][67] On 26 December 2019, Arteta took charge for the first time as an Arsenal manager for their Premier League match against Bournemouth which ended in a 1–1 draw, thanks to a second half equaliser from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

[74] On 23 January 2021, Arteta had his first defeat in the FA Cup in his managerial career as Arsenal was knocked out by Southampton in the fourth round, unable to defend the title.

[75] On 14 March 2021, Arteta claimed his first victory in the North London derby as a manager thanks to goals from Martin Ødegaard and Alexandre Lacazette in a 2–1 win.

[97][98] Mikel Arteta became the 11th manager to have won the first five games of a Premier League season, after Kevin Keegan, Carlo Ancelotti, Alex Ferguson, Arsène Wenger, Alan Curbishley, José Mourinho, Manuel Pellegrini, Pep Guardiola, Maurizio Sarri, and Jürgen Klopp.

[124] Following a loss on penalties to Sporting CP after a 2–2 aggregate draw in the UEFA Europa League round of 16, injuries to key players William Saliba and Takehiro Tomiyasu would prove detrimental, as Arsenal's seven-game winning streak spanning from mid-February to early April would derail with three consecutive draws to Liverpool, West Ham United, and bottom-of-the-table Southampton, before a 4–1 loss at the Etihad Stadium to allow second-place Manchester City to capitalise on Arsenal's drop in form.