Mikel Arteta pondered the question for a split second, then responded. Had he been in touch with Pep Guardiola this week to discuss Sunday’s denouement of the Premier League title race? “No, no,” came the emphatic answer.
The Arsenal manager remains on good terms with his Manchester City counterpart, who gave him his first opportunity in coaching back in 2016 when Arteta turned down offers to earn his stripes in Arsenal’s academy under Arsène Wenger or link up with his old friend Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham. But, make no mistake, when the two Spaniards finally catch up on the phone after the season – as has become tradition since Arteta’s return to manage Arsenal in 2019 – Arteta would prefer not to have finished in second place again. “We talked on the phone, very normal, but it is not analysis,” he said of their most recent conversation last year. “We talk about other stuff.”
