ARSENAL boss Mikel Arteta says Andoni Iraola would be a “dream for any manager” if he were still a player now.

Arteta and Iraola were born within three months of each in the small Basque region of Spain in 1982.

They played together as children for Antiguoko, before Arteta left to join Barcelona as a 15-year-old.

Discussing his relationship with Cherries’ boss, ahead of the two going head-to-head for the first time in the dugout at Vitality Stadium tomorrow (3pm).

“We know each other really well,” said Arteta.

“We played together. We had fantastic times together.

“We played in Antiguoko, which is a team in San Sebastian that has produced a lot of players over the years.

“They do fantastic work. We were privileged to be raised there, to be educated there and that’s the beauty of football, that 30 or 40 years later we are together in the Premier League as managers and I am really, really happy for him.

“First of all it is about the passion, about the game, about football.”

Asked why he feels so many former players from the Basque region have successfully made their way into coaching, Arteta added: “I think the education that we get, the level of coaches there is really good.

“They really take care of the academy, you have to say that. Athletic Bilbao, Eibar, all of those teams, they do fantastic work to raise talent.

“It is not a coincidence that a lot of players have come through there.”

In an interview with the BBC, Iraola said Arteta was “the one above the rest” among the group of players he grew up with.

Asked if Arteta agreed, he said: “I would say the same (about Iraola).

“I think he was better technically, especially, than everybody else.

“He used to play as a winger, coming inside, when he was younger.

“And then as he got a little bit older in his career, he played as a full-back.

“He would be an incredible inverted full-back, to play there.

“He would be a dream for any manager to have a player like him. Really intelligent, really skilful and it was very good to play with him.”