Theo Walcott has revealed Mikel Arteta gave him the greatest team talk he’s ever received, before the Arsenal boss was even a manager.

Mikel Arteta has received plenty of praise for his work with Arsenal over the last couple of years, but former Gunner Theo Walcott says the signs of Arteta’s managerial potential were there even during his playing days.

“It was actually Mikel Arteta,” Walcott said in response to a question about the greatest team talk he’d ever received.

“He was playing for us at the time, Arsenal, and it was when we were struggling, not making top four.

“And he essentially [called] a meeting for the players only, and he just said it how it was, said a few truths, he said exactly what we needed to do. And then after that moment, we made fourth quite comfortably in the end.

“Essentially that inspired everyone, and I’m not surprised why he’s doing so well here (at Arsenal).

“That sort of moment alone was like ‘he’s a manager, meant to be’. For me, he’s made Arsenal into an absolute force now.”

As club captain, Arteta helped lead Arsenal to a couple of Community Shield victories and an FA Cup win, with the Gunners also finishing in the top four.

As manager, Arteta has once again led Arsenal to a couple of Community Shield victories and an FA Cup win, helping the team back to the Champions League for the first time since the 2016/17 season.

The challenge now is to push on and achieve more, with the team going so close with their second-place Premier League finish last season, and still waiting to hit that next level of success.

Walcott was evidently one of the people who has long believed Arteta could have this kind of impact in management, and Arsenal fans will hope there’s still more to come.