Mikel Arteta has responded to Pep Guardiola’s request to speak more clearly, by trying to squash the story of discontent between the two managers.
Earlier this week, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola had a bit of a dig at Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta by suggesting the manager needed to “be more clear” with his comments in press conferences.
Addressing those quotes, Arteta appeared to attempt to end the simmering tension between the two.
“I can repeat it very clear, I love Pep, I have admired him since I was 10 years old,” Arteta said. “I respect him profoundly I am so grateful for everything he did for me and continues to do with me, I consider him a friend.
“I love and I respect every member of the staff there (at Manchester City) because I worked with them for four years, and when I say I know them, it’s I know how hard they work.
“I haven’t seen a human being work as hard as Pep, and the coaches and everybody in that football club to be consistently winning, and the reason they are there is because they maintain that hunger and this is exactly what I learn and exactly what I mean.”
“It cannot be any more clear than that,” Arteta continued. “If you want I can repeat it, if someone wants to damage a relationship that’s not in my hands. That feeling is profound, he knows it, the staff know it.
“I still maintain today with them, with the board, with the ownership, with everybody and if it not it wouldn’t be genuine and it is.
“If someone wants to play something else for me the sport has to be about that will to win, they have it, I have it, we have it, for sure because we haven’t done it.
“They have it even if they want it more than anybody else, we have to learn and it has to be inspiring for us and it is for me and that’s what I mean because I have been there.
“It is remarkable and it’s an incredible achievement because they have that mentality. Hopefully, that is clear. ”
With regards to what had sparked the topic in the first place, Arteta had been asked about the ‘dark arts’ in football, and he said that he knew how City themselves approach that topic as he’d been at the club for four years.
In response, Guardiola said: “Well, next time Mikel has to be more clear. Next time he has to be more clear exactly what does he mean.
“Because it can be related [to] the process now with 115 charges, maybe it’s about that, he knows the information about that maybe. Or maybe something like… I don’t know because really next time I have to see more clear exactly what happened.
“Next time, the good relation I have with him, hopefully this question has been asked and he can answer exactly what does it mean.”
The question was indeed asked, it’s now been answered, and you’d hope that will be the end of it.
The two managers have much more important things to focus on, as they both turn their attentions back to the Champions League in midweek. Arsenal face PSG at home on Tuesday, whilst City travel away to Slovan Bratislava.
