Arteta names Okocha, Ronaldinho as most skilful teammates

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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has named Nigerian football legend Jay-Jay Okocha and Brazilian great Ronaldinho as the most skilful players he shared a dressing room with during his playing career.

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Arteta made the revelation in a light-hearted interview with SportBible, where he was asked a series of questions about his former teammates, including who was the fastest, funniest, smartest, and best-dressed.

Asked to name the most skilful teammate he had played with, the Spaniard opted for two former Paris Saint-Germain teammates.

“The most skilful? Ronaldinho or JJ Okocha, both of them. Very difficult to pick one of those two,” Arteta said.

Arteta spent the 2001/02 season on loan at PSG from Barcelona, playing alongside Okocha and Ronaldinho during his spell in the French capital.

Arteta made 53 appearances for PSG during his 18-month spell and described his time at the club as a formative period in his career.

Okocha joined PSG in 1998 and became one of the club’s most recognisable players before leaving in 2002. Ronaldinho arrived from Gremio in 2001, while Arteta was developing as a young midfielder on loan from Barcelona.

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Arteta’s latest comments add to the admiration he has previously expressed for the Nigerian, who was renowned for his dribbling, creativity and ability to entertain.

In another interview, Arteta recalled the difficulty of playing behind Okocha and Ronaldinho, joking about how much ground he had to cover whenever PSG lost possession.

The SportsBible interview also offered an insight into the personalities of some of Arteta’s other former teammates.

He named Brazilian forward Ronaldinho as the funniest player and said he was known for playing pranks, including hiding teammates’ belongings and even playing jokes on the manager.

Arteta picked Mauricio Pochettino as the last player to leave training, while Nicolas Anelka was identified as the biggest spender.

Gabriel Heinze, who later became Arteta’s assistant at Arsenal, was described as the most superstitious, with Arteta recalling the Argentine’s elaborate pre-match ritual.

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Arteta also selected Thomas Rosický as the smartest player and Peter Lovenkrands as the fastest. Lovenkrands was Arteta’s teammate at Rangers after the Spaniard moved to Scotland in 2002.

The Arsenal manager named Frédéric Déhu as the best-dressed teammate and another Nigerian, Haruna Babangida, as the worst-dressed.

Arteta began his senior career at Barcelona before moving to PSG on loan in 2001. He subsequently played for Rangers, Real Sociedad, Everton and Arsenal before retiring in 2016.

He later joined Pep Guardiola’s coaching staff at Manchester City and was appointed Arsenal manager in December 2019.

Arteta has since established himself as one of the Premier League’s leading managers, guiding Arsenal to the 2025/26 Premier League title, ending the club’s 22-year wait for the championship.