Pep Guardiola: Man City boss says he was provoked into greater rivalry with Arsenal

On Tuesday, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was questioned about allegations he was using “dark arts”.

Reflecting on the three and a half years he spent as Guardiola’s assistant at City until December 2019, the Spaniard said: “I was there for four years. I have all the information, so I know, believe me.”

In his response on Friday, Guardiola added: “Next time Mikel will have to be clearer about what exactly he means.”

“He said he had been here four years and knew exactly what happened here. This may be related to the trial now with 115 charges, maybe he knows information about it? Or maybe he had something like ‘I don’t know…?’

“Hopefully that question has been asked and he can answer exactly what he means.”

City have been in a hearing for two weeks over alleged 115 breaches of Premier League financial rules.

Both Guardiola and Arteta spoke at the same time on Friday afternoon and the Arsenal manager tried to play down any suggestion of an argument.

“I love him, I respect him and I admire him,” he added. “I admire his team and everything he does.

“This is sport. One thing is our profession, another is our personal relationship. If our relationship was damaged because one draws and the other wins, or because they beat us so many times, I wouldn’t talk to him anymore.

“That’s not the relationship I think we both have. Sport will never get in the way of a personal relationship, that’s for sure.”