Former Arsenal loanee Kim Kallstrom has hailed current Gunners boss Mikel Arteta as the most ‘professional’ player he has played with, even more than Swedish star Zlatan Ibrahimovic, according to a report in the Sun.
Kallstrom played alongside Arteta for Arsenal during a loan spell in 2014 and has heralded the Gunners boss as one of the most professional players he’s played with.
The Swedish midfielder also played for Sweden alongside Zlatan Ibrahimovic but according to him, Arteta was even more professional than the towering Swedish striker.
Despite featuring for Arsenal only a handful of times, Kallstrom said that he enjoyed his time in London and was impressed with how professional the players at the club were at the time.
Speaking about Arteta and his loan spell to Arsenal’s website as cited in the Sun, Kallstrom said:
“I was surrounded by Santi Cazorla, Mesut Ozil, these guys who were so skilful.
“It was nice to see them every day at work. People are so professional.
“I played alongside Zlatan Ibrahimovic for a long time and he’s a real pro, but then I came here and I saw how professional Mikel Arteta is… wow.”
“He is so committed to the game and so engaged with it as well, I learned a lot just from watching him.”
Arteta joined Arsenal from Everton in 2011 and retired from football in 2016 after a five-year spell at the Emirates.
The former Gunners midfielder then joined Pep Guardiola at Manchester City as assistant manager before coming back to London to manage Arsenal after the departure of Unai Emery.