There are few managers Mikel Arteta enjoys spending time with more than his former colleague Pep Guardiola, but the pair will be putting their friendship to one side when we go head-to-head with Manchester City in the Premier League title race this weekend.
The run-in begins with a 4.30pm kick-off at Etihad Stadium on Sunday, and Mikel was asked all about his admiration for Guardiola in his pre-match press conference at Sobha Realty Training Centre on Friday afternoon.
“It [his relationship with Pep] had to change, but my admiration and what I feel for him, certainly not," Mikel revealed. "In my opinion, he is the best coach in the world by a mile and is one of the nicest people that I have met in football, certainly one of the ones that I have had more fun and a laugh working with, and that's going to stay there forever.
“Obviously our roles at the moment are what they are and you have to adapt to the situation. It is what it is, but that happens the same in relationships with players. I had some teammates here and then you become the coach and that relationship has to adapt. You cannot feel differently about the person but professionally you have to act differently.
“Probably I would prefer to do it [fight for titles] against somebody else, so I don’t have those feelings! But it’s not the choice and it’s what it is, and that’s it. People want to win; we know each other very well and we’ll prepare the game to win it.
“I know the passion that he lives the game, the intelligence, the way he handles his team and the club as well, and how demanding he is, and then he has an incredible work ethic. That’s something that people don’t see; it’s a lot of work behind the scenes and he’s managed to do it for three different clubs at the top league level every single season, and that’s a huge quality.”
Nevertheless, Mikel will be hoping we can make it three wins out of three against City this season, having already beaten them in the Community Shield and Premier League.
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