Exclusive: Fabrizio Romano explains why Arteta is more than just a manager for Arsenal with crucial transfer role

Mikel Arteta has a crucial role to play in Arsenal transfers, according to journalist Fabrizio Romano in the latest edition of his exclusive column for CaughtOffside.

The Gunners boss is more than just a manager for the club, according to Romano, who says he is almost acting as another member of the board, playing a key role alongside Edu in rebuilding this squad.

Declan Rice has spoken publicly about how important Arteta was in persuading him to move to the Emirates Stadium, and the Spanish tactician seems to have a really impressive knack of convincing players about his project.

According to Romano, Arteta sold a compelling vision to Rice, both tactically and in terms of his long-term leadership role for the north London giants.

“Declan Rice has been speaking in glowing terms about Mikel Arteta as he discussed the manager’s importance in convincing him to join Arsenal this summer. For sure, he was absolutely crucial, and I understand that what Rice has said publicly is the reality – Arteta started pushing to have Rice at the club already in January,” Romano said.

“Of course, to sign Rice was impossible in January, but Arteta has wanted him since January and he was pushing in internal discussions since then, and also had important discussions with the player.

“It was always crucial to have that kind of impact from the manager – Arteta is doing a really special job on and off the pitch for Arsenal. He is great at convincing the players, discussing the project, the strategy they have. With Rice, he gave a detailed picture of the tactics and how he would fit into the squad, but also about the leadership.

“What he told the player was something like ‘we want you to be the future of the club’ and an important player for a long time