Arsenal DID inform Man City about pursuit of Arteta despite claims to contrary

Arsenal did keep Manchester City in the loop over their pursuit of Mikel Arteta.

The Spaniard will be the Gunners' new manager, with an announcement confirming his arrival to take place before the weekend.

But Arteta's return to the Emirates Stadium has been shrouded in controversy with City chiefs understood to be furious at Arsenal's conduct as they set about luring the 37-year-old from the Etihad, where he is Pep Guardiola's No 2.

City are incandescent at their belief that Arsenal had had 'no contact' with them over their attempts to appoint Arteta - exacerbated by the fact the teams faced each other on Sunday where members of both hierarchies were in close proximity.

Arsenal chiefs Vinai Venkatesham and Huss Fahmy were photographed leaving Arteta's house just after 1am on Monday morning, just hours after City defeated the Gunners 3-1 at the Emirates - something which is said to have infuriated the Premier League champions given the perceived lack of dialogue.

However, Sportsmail understands Arsenal did hold dialogue regarding their intention to discuss the vacant manager's role with Arteta.

Arteta is known to have kept manager Guardiola abreast of the developments regarding his move to London, while Arsenal's head of football Raul Sanllehi has known City's director of football Txiki Begiristain for two decades.

With that in mind, assertions that Arsenal were silent with City during their pursuit of their highly-rated coach has left some behind-the-scenes at Arsenal somewhat confused.