Mikel Arteta: Pep Guardiola gives update on assistant amid Arsenal manager talks

City assistant edging closer to becoming next Emirates manager

Pep Guardiola says Mikel Arteta will travel with Manchester City for Wednesday’s EFL Cup quarter-final against Oxford despite being in talks with Arsenal.

City assistant Arteta is edging closer to becoming Unai Emery’s permanent successor at the Emirates after holding discussions over the manager’s role.

Arsenal managing director Vinai Venketesham and director of football operations Huss Fahmy were photographed leaving Arteta’s home after a meeting on Sunday night.

At his pre-Oxford press conference on Tuesday, Guardiola confirmed talks were taking place between his assistant and Arsenal, and that he knew about the Sunday meeting.

“I know what you know,” Guardiola said. “Today I saw him, yes. He’s travelling [to Oxford].

“We were so smart to pick him up and now the other clubs want him. I’ve said many times, he’s an incredible person, a good manager, work ethic, that is why he is with us.

“He’s talking with Arsenal so I don’t know what is going to happen. I knew about the meeting. Yes, I knew it. He’s an adult, he knows exactly what he has to do. He was incredibly honest with me.

“It happens, last season we had [head physio] Lee Nobes and he went to Liverpool. He decided to go to Liverpool and now it has happened with Mikel, teams want him.

“He knows exactly what we want, what we’d like, but at the end it’s his decisions. It’s personal. Nobody is here if they don’t want to be here. If he wants to be here it is because we decided we want to work together three years ago.

“What happens now I don’t know. I’d like him to be up here to explain better than me but he has no obligation to come up here.”

City will not stand in Arteta’s way, despite the fact that he is likely to be the second assistant that Guardiola has lost in the space of 18 months after Domenec Torrent’s departure last year.