Mikel Arteta offered an olive branch to Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola after Arsenal secured a dramatic injury-time victory against Leicester at the Emirates on Saturday.
The fallout from last Sunday’s fractious 2-2 Premier League draw between the teams continued all week before Guardiola declared ‘war’ on former assistant Arteta during his pre-match press conference on Friday.
But Gunners boss Arteta took the first steps to calm the situation following Arsenal’s 4-2 win over Leicester.
‘I can repeat it very clear: I love Pep,’ Arteta said. ‘I have admired him since I was 10 years old. I respect him profoundly and I’m so grateful for anything he did for me and continues to do for me.
‘I consider him to be a friend. I love and respect every member of staff there (at City) because I worked with them for four years.’
Managers Pep Guardiola (right) and Mikel Arteta pictured hugging before last Sunday’s game
That game, between Arteta’s Arsenal and Guardiola’s City, was a fiercely competitive clash
It ended in a 2-2 draw before the managers became embroiled in a post-game ‘war’ this week
Guardiola had taken issue with Arteta’s claim in the aftermath of the Etihad draw that the Arsenal boss knew all about City’s use of the ‘dark arts’.
The City boss demanded ‘clarity’ from the Spaniard and suggested that Arteta was hinting at the 115 Premier League charges the club are fighting.
But Arteta moved to clarify his comments in a bid to defuse the growing animosity between the two title rivals.
‘When I say that “I know them”, I meant I know how hard they work,’ said Arteta. ‘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.
‘The reason they are there is they maintain the hunger. This is exactly what I’ve learnt and what I meant, so I cannot be more clear than that.
‘If you want I can repeat it but if someone wants to damage our relationship, that’s not in my hands but that feeling is profound. He knows it, the staff know it because I still maintain (a relationship) with them today, with the board, with the ownership, with everyone.’
But Arteta, pictured embracing Guardiola in April last year, has since moved to end that ‘war’
Arteta’s Arsenal side beat Leicester City 4-2 at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday afternoon
Earlier on Saturday, Guardiola saw his Man City team held to 1-1 draw away at Newcastle
His comments came after Arsenal claimed a late three points against lowly Leicester after a Wilfred Ndidi own goal and a Kai Havertz strike.
Despite the scare, Arteta was largely pleased with the display.
‘I think we were unbelievable today,’ he said. ‘We deserved to win with many more goals.’
