The Best Little Spaniard

August 31^st is rapidly becoming a date in the calendar that I am beginning to hate  - the final day of the summer transfer window. The day usually leaves me feeling extremely frustrated as I watch players that I think would do a job for us going to other clubs. This year however, I was not so much frustrated as upset, devastated and in all honesty heartbroken. The best little Spaniard I know left our club.

Once it was all official that he was joining Arsenal, I broke down and cried, not the actions of a normal, rational 29 year old, I admit, but that is how much I loved (and probably still love) Mikel that him leaving just reduced me to tears. I was also crying over what it signified for our club but I am not discussing all that at the minute, this is about Mikel, the little Spanish magician who gave me such great pleasure and happy memories in his 6 and a half years at the club.

When he signed for us in January 2005, I was told by my cousin's Rangers supporting husband, not to hope for much from Arteta as "he didn't exactly set the SPL alight" and "he gets blown over by a slight breeze, so won't handle the rough & tough of the Premiership". Oh how wrong, was he!! The earliest memory I have of Mikel was him controlling and dictating the midfield in one the best away performances I have witnessed from us - a 3-1 win at Villa Park in February '05. He just seemed to have all the time in the world to pick the passes out and didn't seem overly phased by the "rough & tough of the Premiership" as my cousin's hubby had predicted. I think I knew there & then, off the back of that performance against Villa that this was a player who I was going to love. He cemented his place as one of my favourites when he played his part in the best night I've known at Goodison by setting up Big Dunc for that goal against Man Utd.

He became a permanent member of our squad and he still managed to entertain me with his performances, be they out wide or in the middle. He controlled the midfield in many games, he had "time" to do whatever it was he wanted to do on the pitch. I've never really seen a midfielder of ours do that and it was a joy to watch. When he had the ball, I felt relaxed as I knew he'd retain possession or pick a pass that would lead to something. He wasn't afraid of getting stuck in either, which was a side to him I wasn't expecting, but he understood what it meant to be a team player and got on with his job without ever complaining about what role he was asked to do.

Not only was he the main creative spark in our team, he chipped in with a fair share of goals too. Who can ever forget the hope he gave to us with the stunning free kick against Villarreal in the Champions League and those who were at Goodison for the Fiorentina will never forget the moment that "Goodison was shaken to it's 100 year old foundations". I will never forget the choruses of "Follow, Follow, Follow" ringing out in the cold November night air at the Easy-Credit Stadion, Nuremberg after his penalty put onto the road to a brilliant 2-0 win. Even last season, which was not his best in an Everton shirt, he still gave me two of the best memories with his equalising goal in the 93rd minute against Man Utd and his first Derby day goal.

It wasn't just the performances on the pitch that made me love Mikel so much though, it was the way he had taken the club to his heart, he had become an Evertonian, so unusual for a foreigner to do this, but Mikel had. His friendship with Tim Cahill was one of the most genuine I have ever seen. Seeing those two together before games was as funny as it was endearing. The interview with the pair of them shown before one our UEFA cup games just showed the level of their friendship.

Not many players have made me cry in my 18 years of going to the match like Mikel has. When he suffered that injury up at St James Park in 2009, I cried, as I knew instantly the seriousness of the injured and also knew that he'd probably not be quite the same Mikel when he returned. The reception he received upon his return against Birmingham was quite simply one of the best I've ever seen, all of Goodison were just so happy to have him back. I will admit, again I shed a tear or two.

Yes, his performances since the injury have not been up to those high standards of those first couple of years, but he was still Mikel, he still had the odd glimpse of Mikel magic, his two goal & overall excellent performance against Hull, man of the match showing back up at the ground where it all started to go wrong, St James' Park last season.

Now he has gone, and he is still making me cry, with the eloquent and heartfelt way he spoken about his time at Everton and the affection he has for the club and the fans. Everything he said was very genuine and sincere. An indication of what a true gentleman and all round nice guy he really is. I maybe I'm being silly to feel like this over one player, no player is bigger than the club, I know that and I understand the reasons why he was sold (doesn't mean I like them) but that is how I am, I get attached to players, I always have and I always will. I am even more gutted that I will never get the chance to meet him now, he wasn't at Finch Farm on the day I went there, I thought I'd get to see him one day, but now it won't happen.

He may well be now Arsenal's Mikel Arteta, as he was introduced on Sky Sports News prior to his interview on Friday, but to me, he will never be Arsenal's, he will always be our Mikel Arteta - the best little Spaniard Everton or I will ever know.