MX23RW : Thursday, December 19 02:53:18| >> :120:22264:22264:

What happened is out of my control - Guardiola coy on Arsenal's Arteta pursuit

What happened is out of my control - Guardiola coy on Arsenal's Arteta pursuit
© Reuters
The Manchester City boss has lost his assistant to the Gunners.

Pep Guardiola has refused to comment on Arsenal's conduct over the appointment of Mikel Arteta as their new boss.

Arteta's three-and-a-half-year spell as Guardiola's assistant came to an end on Friday afternoon when Arsenal announced the 37-year-old as a permanent replacement for Unai Emery.

City, however, were not impressed with the manner of Arsenal's pursuit of Arteta, the PA news agency understands.

Arsenal managing director Vinai Venkatesham was pictured outside the Spaniard's house in the early hours of Monday morning, before the Gunners made a formal approach to City, while no-one from the Arsenal hierarchy mentioned their interest in Arteta to any of their City counterparts during last Sunday's match at the Emirates Stadium.

"I'm not involved with the club behind the scenes, the CEO's or the people in charge," Guardiola said ahead of Saturday evening's home Premier League game against Leicester.

Guardiola said he did not know whether Arsenal had apologised to City for their conduct, nor whether they should.

"What happened is out of my control," he said. "I don't know what happened. I don't know if the way they have done it is correct, or incorrect. I don't know."

Mikel Arteta has agreed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Arsenal
Mikel Arteta has agreed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Arsenal (PA)

Former Arsenal skipper Arteta has signed a three-and-a-half-year contract to succeed Emery, who was sacked last month.

It has also been reported that Arteta was keen to take City first-team coach Rodolfo Borrell with him to the Emirates Stadium as his assistant.

But Guardiola confirmed former Barcelona coach Borrell has stepped up to fill the vacancy left by Arteta at the Etihad.

"From now on he (Borrell) will stay with me," Guardiola said. "We haven't had any approach for him.

Rodolfo Borrell will not be following Mikel Arteta to the Emirates
Rodolfo Borrell will not be following Mikel Arteta to the Emirates (Nick Potts/PA).

"Until the summer we are going to continue in this way, with the people who are here and who we started with three years ago.

"In the summer we will see what we can improve, what we can't improve."

Guardiola, who will enter the final year of his contract next summer, reiterated his own desire to remain at City beyond its expiry.

The 48-year-old signed an initial three-year deal when he replaced Manuel Pellegrini in the summer of 2016 and agreed a contract extension in 2018 to keep him at the club until 2021.

"I think in football one-and-a-half years is a lot of time for a manager," he added.

"We'll have to see altogether how it works, what is going on. I've said many times how incredibly good it is for me here and of course I would like to stay as much as possible.

"So that is my desire, but I want to be sure this is the best for the club, that they want me to stay longer.

"It would be five years at one club and in this competition that is many, many years, so that's why it's better to be sure your decision is perfect for both sides.

"There's no rush. It's not finishing in three or four months and the club is working perfectly in all departments, so it's not a problem, honestly."

ID:383599: cacheID:383599:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:7829:
Written by
P A
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers pictured on December 8, 2019
Read Next:
Brendan Rodgers criticises Leicester's fixture pile-up over festive period
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool15113131131836
2Chelsea16104237191834
3Arsenal1686229151430
4Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest168442119228
5Manchester CityMan City168352823527
6Bournemouth167452421325
7Aston Villa167452425-125
8Fulham166642422224
9Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton166642625124
10Tottenham HotspurSpurs1672736191723
11Brentford167273230223
12Newcastle UnitedNewcastle166552321223
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd166462119222
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham165472129-819
15Crystal Palace163761721-416
16Everton153661421-715
17Leicester CityLeicester163582134-1314
18Ipswich TownIpswich162681628-1212
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves1623112440-169
20Southampton1612131136-255


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!