Sterling enjoyed the best spell of his career under Arteta after linking up with him at City at the start of the 2016-17 season.
Arteta, who was an assistant to Pep Guardiola at the time, worked with Sterling individually and the pair often stayed behind after training.
In their stint together, Sterling was in lethal form and in 116 appearances, he scored 51 goals and supplied 28 assists. In the 126 games before that, he had managed 24 goals and 16 assists.
It was a golden period for Sterling and in that time only four players in England’s top flight recorded more goals and assists than him.
That is why Sterling was so delighted when Arteta called him on transfer deadline day to confirm that a move to Arsenal was on.
It was the call Sterling had been waiting for, the move he had been dreaming of, and now he is determined to seize the opportunity.
The winger has settled quickly at Arsenal, thanks in part to the fact he knew many of the players before from Chelsea, England and Manchester City.
Sterling has trained hard, using the September international break to get up to speed after being frozen out at Chelsea and forced to work alone during August.
Arsenal view his experience as a valuable quality and it could be especially so on Wednesday, with Arteta likely to hand youngsters like Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly minutes.
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