“You have to go!” – Mikel Arteta reveals Pep Guardiola’s personal message during Arsenal hunt | OneFootball

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola was a hugely encouraging factor behind Mikel Arteta taking the top job at Arsenal, the Spaniard has revealed this week.

Arteta’s journey from Guardiola’s assistant to Arsenal head coach is one of the more notable career progressions in English football in recent years, having joined the Catalan’s coaching staff at Manchester City following his career on the field.

During his three years at the Etihad Stadium, he was widely credited with influencing player development through close working relationships with first-team stars, while also learning the intricacies of elite management from one of the most successful coaches in the modern game.

Arteta’s influence was particularly noted during his time working with attacking players, where he reportedly played a key role in mentoring the likes of Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sané, helping them refine their decision-making and execution in the final third.

It was during this period of rapid growth that Arsenal first identified Arteta as a potential successor to Arsène Wenger in 2018.

Speaking exclusively to TNT Sports, Mikel Arteta has revealed the encouragement he received from Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola during their time together at the Etihad Stadium over making his own steps into first-team management at the very top of the game.

Speaking on initial interest from Arsenal in his services back in 2018, Arteta told Ally McCoist, “I never felt ready, Ally. I was getting prepared, and as usual, with my job, I was obsessed, obsessed, and so passionate. I was putting all the hours in the world, I was by myself.

“The family was still living somewhere else, so imagine it was me and Pep 24/7. Okay, how can I help? And the second season, when Arsene [Wenger] left, already Arsenal came in and they were looking at all these candidates and having meetings.

“I said, ‘listen, Pep, look at me, I haven’t done anything. It’s my second year with you here. So what do I do?’ Pep was like, ‘so you have to go? Because you are ready’. And I said, ‘really?’ He said ‘you have to go’.

“And at the end, it didn’t happen and we stayed together another three years or something.”

Adding further insight into his relationship with Pep Guardiola during the early stages of his coaching career, Arteta said, “He was always very, very protective of me. But he said, you need to fly.

“You know, I had to make that goal. He always gave me that confidence. That trust… to say, ‘you have to go, go and do it. You need to do that.’ And he knew how I felt about the club.”

Arteta would eventually leave Manchester City in 2019 to become Arsenal’s head coach, where he has since delivered FA Cup and Community Shield triumphs, as well as guiding the Gunners back into the UEFA Champions League on a consistent basis.

The Spaniard’s tactical playing style – pressing, positional rotations, and emphasis on youth development and progression – mirrors much of what he absorbed under Pep Guardiola but with his own distinct adaptations.

For Manchester City supporters, Arteta’s comments offer a reminder of Guardiola’s wider influence on modern coaching, including previous working relationships with the likes of Chelsea’s Enzo Maresca and Bayern Munich’s Vincent Kompany.

The next chapter in the Guardiola–Arteta story could come later this season, with both clubs expected to compete for domestic and European honours. And with Guardiola’s City contract running until 2027, speculation may yet grow about whether Arteta could one day be a natural successor back at the Etihad Stadium.