"Mikel Arteta has said failing to maintain his "great" relationship with Pep Guardiola amid a title race would set a "bad example" for sport and instead pointed to the respectful rivalry between tennis legends Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. The pair first met at Barcelona's La Masia academy when Arteta was just 15 years old and he later worked under Guardiola at Manchester City for three seasons prior to becoming Arsenal boss in 2019."
"Asked on Friday if there was a possibility Guardiola was playing mind games, Arteta replied: "With me? I don't think so. We don't talk like with my wife every three days but we talk generally. He talks about how he feels and that's it. If there are mind games, there are mind games but I don't pay too much attention because at the end you have to go on the pitch and deliver.""
Mikel Arteta values maintaining a "great" relationship with Pep Guardiola amid the Premier League title race and considers breaking that relationship a bad example for sport. The pair first met at Barcelona's La Masia when Arteta was 15 and reconnected when Arteta worked under Guardiola at Manchester City for three seasons before becoming Arsenal manager in 2019. City and Arsenal have become consistent title challengers, with Arsenal holding a four-point lead ahead of a match at Leeds United. Guardiola labelled Arsenal "the best team in the world," and Arteta compared respectful rivalry to that of Nadal and Federer.
Read at ESPN.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]