Mikel Arteta: Pep Guardiola could not stop new Arsenal manager ‘following his dreams’

Manchester City manager wishes his former assistant ‘all the best’

Pep Guardiola admitted he couldn’t stop Mikel Arteta following his dreams shortly before his former assistant was appointed as Arsenal‘s new manager.

Arteta was finally confirmed as the new Arsenal head coach on Friday afternoon on a three-and-a-half-year contract.

Guardiola had insisted he wouldn’t stand in the 37-year-old’s way and the pair split on good terms, despite Manchester City becoming irritated with Arsenal’s negotiation strategy.

Speaking shortly before Arsenal’s announcement, Guardiola said: ”He decided to move. You can’t stop it, you have to follow your dreams. Arsenal was an important part of his career for him.

“They are one of the best teams in England. We wish him all the best and I’m pretty certain he’ll do a good job.”

City will not appoint a new No 2 to replace Arteta immediately with coach Rodolfo Borrell instead taking on the extra responsibility.

Arteta described his return to the Emirates as a “huge honour” and is expected to watch Arsenal’s match against Everton tomorrow from the stands.

“Arsenal is one of the biggest clubs in the world,” he said. “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.”