Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola worked alongside one another at Manchester City but have now gone from colleagues to title rivals since the former's move to Arsenal
Pep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City, embraces Mikel Arteta, Manager of Arsenal, prior to the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Manchester City FC
Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta are competing for the Premier League title(Image: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
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The cold war between the Premier League’s fiercest managerial rivals finally appears to have thawed. Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta made it clear that he has not spoken to Pep Guardiola since they met in the Carabao Cup final last month.
But even after Manchester City ’s win at Wembley, tension has been replaced by respect ahead of Sunday’s title decider at the Etihad.
Arteta famously worked under City boss Guardiola and learned from the best before taking up his current job as Arsenal manager in December 2019.
City were not happy with the nature of Arteta’s departure but the pair remained close until their relationship really hit a low after Arsenal’s 2-2 draw at the Etihad in September 2024.
Accusations flew that day after Arsenal had Leandro Trossard was sent off, City midfielder Rodri suffered a serious knee injury and Erling Haaland delivered his “stay humble” taunts.
City accused Arsenal of time-wasting while Guardiola was furious amid the back-and-forth when Arteta claimed he had “all the information” about his former club. The feud was developing into Fergie v Wenger and actually only heightened the tension in the title race.
They have gone toe-to-toe in title races and it is back to that point again with this season on the line in the latest instalment of Guardiola v Arteta.
The first hint of a thaw came after City won at Chelsea last Sunday when Guardiola insisted Arsenal deserved “respect” for what they had done this season. It was over and above the usual pre-match niceties.
Manchester City's English defender Kyle Walker (2L), Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola (C), Manchester City's German midfielder Leroy Sane (centre R), and Spanish assitant coach Mikel Arteta (3R) attend a training session at City Football Academy in Manchester, north west England on September 18, 2018, on the eve of the UEFA Champions League first round football match between Manchester City and Lyon. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP) (Photo credit should read OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)
The two became close during their time working together at Manchester City(Image: OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)
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But Arteta insisted their friendship - which dates back nearly 30 years to the Barcelona academy days - is back on track and actually they would connect instantly again over coffee or dinner.
Arteta added: “I think in a relationship, first of all it is the distance. When you spend 14 hours a day together as we did and when you don’t spend any, there is a big difference.
“And then obviously you look at where we are, we are both challenging for very similar things, so that changes the relationship but that does not change, for sure, the way I feel about him and the times we had together.
“But if I have lunch with him or a coffee in two minutes that relationship comes back to nature because we are very capable of separating things as a professional rivalry and the personal relationship and that will stay the same.”
That partnership and rivalry has been intense. It has shaped the title race in three of the past four seasons. They have got too much at stake on Sunday to be anything but enemies. But respect and cordial relations have been restored. Until at least things kick off at the Etihad.
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