Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has revealed that Pep Guardiola was his idol growing up, as the Gunners boss revealed details of a conversation where the Catalan asked for his help to achieve the "dream" of playing Barcelona-style football at Manchester City.
City find themselves five points behind Arteta's side in the Premier League, with the Blues knowing they are playing catch-up with the league leaders when they take on Leeds United on December 28. The Gunners have played what many might call City-esque football under Guardiola's former deputy, as the North London club appear to have clicked into gear this season.
Arsenal's style of play should not be too surprising given Arteta spent his formative years as a coach at City from 2016 to 2019. Guardiola has talked very highly in the past about his fellow Premier League manager, with the pair sharing a bond that stretches back more than 25 years.
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In a Sky Sports interview with former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher, Arteta explained that he looked up to Guardiola when he was a teenager at Barcelona's academy, with the Arsenal manager also revealing that the City boss would call him for advice ahead of key Champions League clashes when he was managing in Europe.
He said: "We met when when I was 15 years old, he was my idol. He was the one to try to emulate if I wanted to be a first-team player at Barcelona and we built that relationship from there.
"And then it was weird because when I was still playing and he was a Barcelona manager, Bayern Munich manager - he used to call me to ask me about English teams and how would you play against that and we built that relationship.
"One day he was very clear to me, the day that I'm in England I have a dream to do what I did in Barcelona in this league when everybody says that is impossible to do and I would like your help and support and your experience to help me to achieve that dream."
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