It is all too easy to depict Mikel Arteta as a disciple of Pep Guardiola. A mini-me. Someone who sat and listened and absorbed every word of wisdom uttered by the innovative Catalan in the dugout at Manchester City.

And if that was indeed the case then Arteta’s appointment as Arsenal boss would be a hugely exciting and intriguing development not only for the Gunners but for the Premier League, given the extent in which Guardiola has transformed English football for the better. Now there will be two progressive minds challenging the norms and what is more, one is in charge of a club that has long had all the tools to be great just not the faculties to benefit.

Yet it only gets more exciting and intriguing still when it’s accepted that the 37-year-old was infinitely more than an underling at Manchester City; a ‘yes men’ there only to learn and put the bibs out.

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Anyone who has watched the Amazon documentary All or Nothing, detailing City’s record-breaking 2017/18 campaign will be aware that Arteta was tasked to create tactical plans and work on set-pieces, while on the bench during games it was commonplace to see the grand master Guardola lean in to seek out the opinion of his assistant. Arteta even had his own office at the Etihad campus.

He was then an individual mind shaped by a genius and already that is beginning to bear fruit despite Arteta only being in charge in North London for a matter of weeks.

Against Manchester United on a symbolic New Year’s Day his side snapped into challenges in closely positioned pairs while in possession overloads were created. There was an intensity that has previously been wholly lacking with the 112.4km total distance ran topping their highest number all season.

"We’ve tried to change a little bit the dynamic they were at, put a little bit more aggression and passion into the game," the Spaniard revealed prior to his second game at the helm away to Bournemouth. If this bodes well it is only the very start of a transformation that will be absolutely fascinating to behold. First comes the dynamic; then comes the dynamite.

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Or maybe not because for all of Arteta’s analytical acumen and undoubted ability to develop players – Leroy Sane for one has credited him for improving his game significantly – let’s not forget this is still Arsenal, a club struggling under the weight of its glorious past and, if Manchester United's post-Ferguson decline tells us anything, a club that still has a long way to go before it truly moves out from under Arsene Wenger's shadow.

And in this regard Arteta’s inexperience as a boss could prove to be his undoing, because it is such a difficult challenge to walk into - even from his time there as a player, Arsenal have regressed from a Champions League side to a top-six club at best. In this regard too, the appointment could be viewed as a huge gamble for both sides.

For the neutrals though this amounts to a win-win. Should it all horribly go wrong then entertainment will no doubt be mined from the fall-out. Arsenal Fan TV and Granit Xhaka memes galore. Should it work then the prospect of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mesut Ozil and Nicolas Pepe dove-tailing in devastating harmony and David Luiz successfully playing a variation of Pep-ball will be a joy to behold and box-office for sure.

Over the coming months we will discover whether the great Arteta experiment pans out for the Gunners. Either way, we will not be able to divert our eyes.