He’s always a competitive animal – Xabi Alonso on Mikel Arteta

Bayer Leverkusen manager, Xabi Alonso has described his counterpart at Arsenal, Mikel Arteta, as a competitive animal.

Alonso, a former Liverpool midfielder, hailed the Gunners boss following North London’s 4-1 friendly win over Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday.

Oleksandr Zinchenko, Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz were the scorers for the Premier League giants while Adam Hlozek pulled one back for Leverkusen.

Alonso spoke to reporters after the game, saying as per Hayters TV, “Competitive. He has always been a competitive animal. Here you can see how he has developed a great project.

“You could see that he wanted to win, and he was preparing for that, you know.

“It is a fruit of many decisions that he has taken that they reach here in Arsenal.”

Arsenal opened their pre-season with a 1-1 draw with Bournemouth at the Heath Sports Park in Los Angeles.