Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has admitted he misses Man City boss Pep Guardiola.
Arteta left City after three-and-a-half years at the Etihad as assistant manager in December to take over from the sacked Unai Emery as manager of his former club Arsenal.
The Spaniard played a key role in City's unparalleled recent success, helping the club to two Premier League titles, two Carabao Cups and an FA Cup during his tenure.
Arteta has only managed three wins in his opening nine games in charge of the Gunners but has earned plaudits for the team's upturn in performances. However, he has admitted he misses his former boss.
“Absolutely. I am a big friend of his and I admire him," Arteta replied when asked if he misses Guardiola.
“I had a lot of joy working together and success. We spent a lot of time together and he is a friend.
“I have to apply my own things. He was part of my development as a person to go through a lot of things I experienced next to him.
“It was a privilege and of course a lot of the things I took on board, that I felt from my time at Barcelona, we shared together and a lot of things I learned from his management.
“I always talk with him. He is a really good friend of mine. I respect him so much. We share a lot of things in our life and we discuss everything.”
Guardiola recently spoke in glowing terms about the relationship the pair had, too, and revealed that they remain in regular contact.
“It was an incredible relationship,” Guardiola said in January. “We are in touch quite often by phone.
“He’s so excited, so happy, struggling because it is always not easy to take a team in the beginning. But he is doing incredibly well, off and on the pitch. He decided to move. For people I love, I always want the best and he decided that. I wish him all the best. He knows that.”
