The name Emmanuel Eboué still brings a wave of love and nostalgia from Arsenal fans. The Ivory Coast right-back went from being an easy target for the Gunners faithful to becoming a full-blown cult hero, racking up more than 200 appearances in North London.
Now 42, Eboué earned around £20 million during his playing career and became an inspiring success story, particularly back home in the Ivory Coast. From the streets of Abidjan to the bright lights of the Premier League, his journey was the kind of football fairytale every young player dreams about.
Those glory days at the top level may be behind him now, but one thing hasn’t changed: Eboué’s love for Arsenal.
The former defender still follows the Gunners closely, watching them every weekend and keeping a close eye on Mikel Arteta’s side. And when a player who knows the club inside out speaks about its current generation, Arsenal fans are always going to listen.
June 20, 2010; Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA; Ivory Coast defenseman Emmanuel Eboue (21) battles for the ball with Brazil midfielder Felipe Melo (5) during Group G play in the 2010 World Cup at Soccer City Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christian Ort/GEPA via USA TODAY SportsCredit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The tough chapter of Eboué’s post-playing career began in 2016, when Sunderland parted ways with him after FIFA handed him a 12-month suspension over an unpaid debt to his former agent, Sébastien Boisseau.
But almost a decade later, the former Arsenal right-back is still keeping a close eye on his old club.
In an exclusive tête-à-tête [LiveFootballTickets.](https://www.livefootballtickets.com/us/champions-league-tickets.html)com, Eboué opened up about Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal and explained why he prefers not to compare the current side with the one he played in under Arsène Wenger.
“I don’t really like comparing our generation with this generation because Arsène Wenger and Mikel Arteta are different managers,” Eboué said.
“Arteta is very technical. He likes his team to play football and he has a lot of young players. I watch Arsenal every weekend and you can see that he has changed a lot of things since he came to the club. I’m very happy with the job he is doing. The Arsenal supporters are happy with the way the team plays and I really like Arteta as a manager.”
And the former Ivory Coast international has plenty of reason to be impressed.
Arsenal’s growing maturity has been on full display this season. The Gunners opened their 2026-27 Champions League campaign with a gritty 1-0 away victory over Napoli, showing the kind of composure and defensive discipline needed to grind out a result in one of Europe’s toughest away fixtures.
Arteta has turned Arsenal into a side that can dictate possession, control the tempo and, when needed, dig deep for a result. The Emirates has increasingly become a difficult venue for visiting opposition, while the Gunners’ tactical identity under the Spaniard is becoming harder to ignore.
For Eboué, who made more than 200 appearances for Arsenal between 2004 and 2011, Arteta deserves plenty of credit for that transformation.
The Gunners entered the 2026-27 campaign with their sights firmly set on defending the Premier League crown after finally ending a 22-year title drought last season. They currently sit second in the table, just three points behind Manchester City, and have largely maintained their consistency despite a bruising 3-0 defeat to Brighton before the international break.
The title race, however, is far from a one-horse race.
Asked to assess Arsenal’s chances of going back-to-back, Eboué made his feelings crystal clear.
“Arsenal are my team. This season is going to be very tough because there are so many good teams and good players. But if Arsenal play the way they have been playing, I believe they can win the league. I would give them maybe a 75 per cent chance.”
For an Arsenal cult hero who has watched the club evolve from the Wenger era to the Arteta revolution, that is some serious backing from the former Gunners defender.