During the March international break last season, when Arsenal's schedule finally let up following a gruelling run of fixtures, Mikel Arteta took a trip back to his hometown of San Sebastian.

It was an opportunity to disconnect, if only briefly, from the pressures of a Premier League title challenge, and to celebrate his 41st birthday quietly in the company of friends and family.

But Arteta also made time, as he always does, to check in on Antiguoko, the amateur youth club where his footballing career and those of so many others began, taking his sons to an artificial pitch on the edge of the city to watch their U15s play Real Sociedad.

"When he comes here, he calls me," Roberto Montiel, Arteta's former coach and now Antiguoko's vice-president, tells Sky Sports with a smile. "It was his birthday, but we were there at the pitch watching the game, chatting about Arsenal's season."