Pep Guardiola says Mikel Arteta deserves more than to be labelled as his apprentice.
Arteta led Arsenal to the FA Cup final at the weekend courtesy of a fantastic performance against Guardiola's Manchester City.
The Gunners ran out 2-0 winners thanks to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's double as a counter-attacking rear-guard performance nullified City's threat going forward.
With Arteta having worked under Guardiola at City before taking the Gunners job, it led many to argue that the apprentice had overcome the master.
Yet Guardiola argued that this narrative is unfair on Arteta, who he feels deserves to be thought of in his own right at the Gunners.
The Manchester Evening News report that when Guardiola was asked whether he felt Arteta deserved more praise, he was in no doubt.
"Of course," Guardiola said.
"He's a nice guy, with work ethic, he has seen what has happened, he has the mentality, that's why he's Arsenal manager."
The Gunners' tactics at Wembley were impressive as Arteta set them up in a five-man defence whilst exploiting the space left by City's attacking full-backs.
It led to speculation that Arteta's time at City may well have given him an insight into how to overcome Guardiola's side.
The City boss was unsure if this was the case, arguing that their time working together at the Etihad worked both ways and had given him an idea of how Arteta works, too.
"I don't know," he said.
"Maybe we learned from him. He decided to go there and have a new experience."
