Arteta’s bizarre team-bonding - hiring undercover waiter to ‘destroy’ his player

OLEKSANDR ZINCHENKO has lifted the lid on Mikel Arteta's latest bizarre team-bonding exercise.

The Arsenal boss, 42, has shown down the years that he is not afraid to think outside the box.

In 2022, fans were left baffled as it emerged Arteta had boomed "You'll Never Walk Alone" out of speakers while players trained ahead of a game against Liverpool at Anfield.

More recently, the Spaniard hired a team of pickpockets to swipe his stars' belongings during a dinner - in a bid to teach his players the importance of staying alert at all times.

He was also dubbed the "David Brent of the Premier League" after coming up with a new motivational word - "collaboretition" - a combination of collaboration and competition.

In his latest wacky exercise, Arteta hired a professional football freestyler to show up one of his players.

Speaking to The Guardian, Zinchenko revealed: "We stayed at the same hotel before a match, and we knew all the waiters.

"But there was a new guy that day. So before we go to the stadium [Arteta] said: ‘OK guys, let me wake you up, because we need energy.

"Last time, Alex, we played staff against players and you beat [the set-piece coach] Nicolas [Jover]. Let’s do it the same, but freestyling.

"Everyone was like: ‘What? For sure, Alex will beat him, blah blah blah’. Nico started to do something with the ball and then suddenly it looks like he got an injury. It was so obvious but weird.

"Then they called the new waiter. We didn’t know he was a professional freestyler.

"He destroyed me with his tricks and all of us were in deep shock. But then we were all laughing and we went to the game with good energy."

Zinchenko, 27, has scarcely played this season due to a calf injury.

He has made just two appearances for the Gunners, and none since the 1-1 draw with Brighton on August 31.

The Ukrainian was back on the bench for the 2-0 defeat at Bournemouth last weekend, however, and could be in contention to feature against former side Shakhtar Donetsk this evening.

Zinchenko was on Shakhtar's books as a teenager, before leaving to join Russian side FC Ufa in a bid to secure first team football