Guardiola wants close friend Arteta to explain himself after cryptic comments about Man City

The friendship between Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola and Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta could come under strain with the rivalry between their title-chasing Premier League clubs intensifying in recent days.

Arteta seems certain their relationship won't be damaged.

Guardiola, however, might have gotten irritated.

Arsenal’s tactics, and use of soccer’s so-called “dark arts,” brought some criticism from a number of City players after the feisty 2-2 draw between the teams last weekend.

Arteta responded rather cryptically by saying he has “all the information” about City owing to his time there as an assistant to Guardiola from 2016-19.

“So I know, believe me,” Arteta said.

Those remarks were sufficiently vague for Guardiola to wonder whether Arteta may actually be alluding to the off-the-field issues at City, which is currently defending itself against 115 charges of breaching Premier League regulations following an investigation into the club's financial affairs.

“Next time he has to be more clear exactly what does he mean," Guardiola said of Arteta. “He said he was here four years and we know exactly what happened here.

“It can be related (to) the process now with 115 charges, maybe it’s about that. He knows information about that maybe, or maybe he has something like ... I don’t know. OK, next time, like a good relation I have with him, hopefully this question has been asked. He can answer exactly what does it mean when he said he was here and ‘I know what’s happening here.'"

Guardiola was speaking Friday in a news conference that took place about the same time as Arteta was holding one at Arsenal's training base.

Asked about his relationship with Guardiola, Arteta said: “I love him, I respect him, I admire him and I admire his team and everything that he does. This is sport. One thing is our profession, another is our personal relationship.

“If our relationship was damaged because one draws and the other one wins or the amount of times that they’ve beaten us, I would not talk to him any more. So that’s not our relationship, especially the relationship that I consider both of us have. In sport it will never get in my way, a personal relationship, that’s for sure."

Guardiola said he feels Arsenal might be provoking his players into a rivalry, picking up especially on post-match comments by Arsenal defender Gabriel.

“Gabriel said it perfectly after the match — so this is a war, we are here to provoke the opponent, to push them," Guardiola said. “At the end what can you do? OK, you provoke me — I’m there. You want a war? I’ll do a war."

Arsenal has finished runner-up to City in the league the last two seasons.