'We had unbelievable chemistry' - Arteta on Guardiola
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has praised "amazing" Pep Guardiola for the time he spent working with him at Manchester City.
Arteta joined Guardiola's backroom staff at Etihad Stadium in 2016 following his retirement from playing football.
During his time as assistant coach at the club, the Spaniard won two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups.
Speaking in an exclusive BBC interview with Spanish football journalist Guilllem Ballague, Arteta said: "I have such a passion and love for the game and a capacity to learn fast and be curious. To make a step forward if I need to and make a mistake and retrieve it and try and go again.
"I was surrounded by amazing people and they made that trust and slowly you start to feel it more. Pep was amazing because he gave me so much space. 'OK, you wanna do that? Try that. You wanna do that? Yeah, do it'.
"But I was very clear where the line was and I was very honest with him as well, I said 'Pep, my aim is one day I want really want to do this' and he knew this was going to happen.
"He said, 'If one day it happens, you think [there is] some other stability with somebody else - you have to do that'."
Arteta went on to become the manager of his former side Arsenal in 2019 and has overseen their rise to become the biggest competition to Guardiola's side winning the Premier League.
Reflecting on his time in Manchester, Arteta had only praise for his former boss.
"We had unbelievable chemistry," he said, "and not only on the football side. People would talk about the tactical side, [but] he was on the human level. You just looked at him, just laugh and connect, and then there was the ey contact.
"The meaning on that eye contact was clear of what we had to do or what we were thinking in that moment. We were very lucky. We had some great staff there with very close relationships. It was a very united group and it was fascinating to be part of building a new era in English football and how you do that. I'm so grateful for it."
Listen to 'Mikel Arteta’s People and Places' on BBC Sounds
