A serious Mikel Arteta England switch almost happened before the 2010 World Cup, and the Arsenal manager still remembers exactly how close he came. Fabio Capello, then in charge of the Three Lions, wanted Arteta in his squad and made contact through the player’s club at the time. For a man who had built a life in this country, the offer was not one to dismiss lightly.
The Capello Approach and Arteta’s England Dilemma
Capello did not simply float the idea. According to Mikel Arteta on talkSPORT, the Italian approached David Moyes while Arteta was playing for Everton, opening a direct line of communication between the Football Association and the midfielder himself. The FA followed up, and Arteta says he gave the proposal genuine thought rather than a polite brush-off.
His reasoning had little to do with ambition and everything to do with roots. He explained: “If it had been any other country, I would have said no, but I’ve been over here for most of my career, so it’s my second home. My family are here, my kid’s at nursery, I have everything. So I was really thinking seriously about it.”
That was not the language of a player humouring a passing enquiry. Arteta weighed the switch seriously enough that, by his own account, he came close to committing before circumstances intervened. You can read Arteta’s comments on the England approach in full detail from the original interviews.
The Forgotten FIFA Rule That Blocked the Switch
The obstacle turned out to be regulatory rather than emotional. Arteta had already represented Spain at youth level, and FIFA’s eligibility rules at the time tied a player to whichever nation they had first represented at an age-group level. Since he was not eligible for England when he made those early Spain appearances, switching later was not permitted.
Arteta says the FA explored the idea of contesting that rule. He recalled the whole episode in detail on talkSPORT.
They (the FA) did call me. Fabio Capello approached David Moyes when I was at Everton and I spoke to them and I was really thinking about it but there was a law at that moment and UEFA, or FIFA I think it was, didn’t allow this and we had to take it to court and it was a big hassle. I was half ready to go to war but in the end, we decided that to challenge FIFA was going to be a big story and as well my aim was always to play for the Spanish national team. At that time, I was still hopeful I might get the call.
No legal case was ever filed. Arteta and the FA ultimately decided against confronting FIFA over the rule, and the matter was dropped rather than fought in court. Once the regulation made his position clear, Arteta says the decision was taken out of his hands anyway. He put it simply: “It was an issue and now it’s not any more, but at least it saves me from having to make a decision. Rules are rules. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, so that’s it now.”
Spain’s Golden Generation and Missed Senior Caps
Part of what kept Arteta hopeful about a Spain recall was how near he believed he had come to a senior call-up. According to Mikel Arteta, he was on the fringes of the squad on three separate occasions, only to see two of those chances disappear through injury.
He described those near-misses in detail.
There were three times when I thought I was very close [to a Spain call-up] and two occasions I was injured, and there were some comments from the national team to wish me all the best and tell me I was very close to joining [them]. But, again, I have that regret but I completely understand why I haven’t been [called up] because they have had some fantastic, and probably the best midfield of any generation ever. I accept they are probably better than me, it’s very simple.
That midfield, built around names who went on to win a World Cup and back to back European Championships, left little room for anyone else. Arteta’s honesty about being outclassed by circumstance, rather than bitter about it, says as much about his temperament as the numbers ever could.
How Unfulfilled International Dreams Molded Arsenal’s Manager
Years later, with Spain’s senior door long closed and England no longer an option, Arteta revisited the subject with a clearer head. Speaking to The Athletic in 2024, he confirmed he would have taken the England path had the rules allowed it, and that the conversation had stayed with him long after his playing days ended.
He told the outlet: “I was thinking about that the other day. I was actually talking to Edu (Arsenal’s then-technical director) about that at lunch. I would have done it. I feel very proud about it. I was very realistic, looking at the players Spain had at the time, and how big a challenge I had. You need to know your level, that is very important. In the end, it didn’t happen. But it was good, at least to think about it. It was OK. If you cannot do it, you cannot do it. I wasn’t prepared to fight against the world.”
That mix of realism and acceptance runs through how Arteta operates at Arsenal now. He built the Gunners around clear roles and honest assessments of what each player can offer, values that trace back to a career spent understanding exactly where he stood in a crowded field. It is a theme that resurfaced again around his long-term contract extension, and one that has held even as he refused comment on legal matters away from the pitch. The England call never came to anything, but the way Arteta handled its collapse tells you plenty about the manager Arsenal now rely on.
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