For Mertesacker, “being Arsenal” began aged 10 when he visited an aunt who was living in England. She took him and one of his two brothers to a shop. “I grabbed the Arsenal shirt and my brother grabbed the Man United shirt. There was always a rivalry between ManU and Arsenal and always big rivalry between us as brothers. I actually have two shirts, the JVC one, home and away. There are pictures of me playing in the shirt, aged 10 or 12. I liked Tony Adams. But it was hard for me to chose one role model. It made me feel good just ‘being Arsenal’. I’ve always wanted to be in touch with Arsenal, have a little relationship between us. It was a big thing when Arsenal first called me. I said to myself: ‘I have to go. I have the shirt’.’’