Manchester City: Guardiola hopes Arteta will stay amid Arsenal interest
Mikel Arteta has been in talks with Arsenal, and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola hopes a decision on his future will be made swiftly.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola expects Mikel Arteta's future to be sorted out swiftly after his assistant coach held talks with Arsenal. Arteta is a strong favourite to replace Unai Emery as Gunners manager. The City boss is eager for the matter to be resolved in the near future as he prepares for an EFL Carabao Cup quarter-final against Oxford United tonight.
Guardiola hopes Arteta will stay at City
Asked if he wants a decision to be made soon, Guardiola said on Tuesday: "Yes, I think so. It's going to happen quick. I don't know [if it will happen before the end of the week]. Tomorrow we travel to Oxford, so I don't know."
The former Barcelona boss wants Arteta to stay with the Premier League champions but has plans in place if his fellow Spaniard departs. Guardiola said: "We will move forward. We are going to prepare the next game. We are going to reschedule a little bit the position but we are talking about a 'hypothetic'. Mikel knows the desire and what we would like but after that, if finally he decides to leave for another club, we will make a decision in that moment of what we have to do. In this moment we prepare for the game and the team that is going to play [on Wednesday], the starting 11, and he prepares his part of the training, as always we have done in the last three-and-a-half years."
Tough task at Arsenal
Guardiola suggested Arteta would have a tough task restoring Arsenal to their former glories. "I don't know. I think Arsenal was always one of the best teams of the last 20 years," Guardiola said when asked if Arteta can take Arsenal to the level City are at. "When Arsène Wenger took over the team, he raised the club to another level and now they are struggling a little bit the last years. When the club takes a decision to replace the manager or buy players it's always to rise to be better. Whether it's going to happen or not, I don't know. You know my opinion about Mikel. If he stays I'd be happy, incredible, because we all work together really well - hopefully he can feel the same as me or with us. If he decides to move I'll wish him all the best, for him, his family and for his professional future. I will beat him - that’s a joke! The best of luck."