Pep Guardiola has labelled Mikel Arteta an "excellent", "dedicated" and "hard working" coach after Arsenal announced him as their new boss.
Arteta has been Guardiola's assistant and Manchester City for the past three seasons, and the duo have won two Premier League titles together.
This is the Spaniard's first role as a manager, but Guardiola is backing his compatriot to succeed.
Guardiola said on City's official website: "Mikel has been an excellent coach for Manchester City.
"He has shown impressive dedication, hard work and knowledge of football during his time here and has been a real contributor to the Club's achievements over the past years.
"We all wish him well in his new role; I am sure he is ready for it."
Director of Football Txiki Begiristain added: "Mikel, as a member of Pep's team, has contributed significantly to the Club in his time here in Manchester.
"His work on the training field and detailed preparations have helped us become a side that wins with regularity and in style.
"This move to Arsenal is a further step in his football development and I am sure he will become a top-class coach."
Arteta put pen to paper on a three-and-a-half year deal earlier this week before Arsenal confirmed his appointment this Friday.
He said: "This is a huge honour. Arsenal is one of the biggest clubs in the world.
"We need to be competing for the top trophies in the game and that's been made very clear to me in my discussions with Stan and Josh Kroenke, and the senior people from the club.
"We all know there is a lot of work to be done to achieve that but I am confident we'll do it.
"I'm realistic enough to know it won't happen overnight but the current squad has plenty of talent and there is a great pipeline of young players coming through from the academy."
