Guardiola reveals Arteta didn't celebrate goals against Arsenal when he was his No. 2 at Man City

Pep Guardiola has said he always knew about Mikel Arteta's love for Arsenal when the pair worked together at Manchester City.

Arteta spent more than three years as Guardiola's assistant at the Etihad between 2016-2019, with the club winning two Premier League titles during their time together.

The Spaniard also made 150 appearances for Arsenal between 2011-2016 and captained the Gunners in his time at the Emirates - where he is hugely popular.

There is a great mutual respect between Arteta and Guardiola - with the Gunners boss calling his counterpart his 'idol' in the past - and they face off in the FA Cup fourth round on Friday.

And speaking ahead of the clash, Guardiola revealed he always knew Arteta was passionate about his former club and explained how he wouldn't celebrate when City scored against the Gunners.

'I know he went to his club,' he told his pre-match press conference. 'The team he dreams of.

'He's a supporter, he was a captain there. He loves the club. I remember here when we scored goals he jumped a lot except against one team.

'He was sitting there - it was Arsenal. I said "that guy likes Arsenal". Like here, if I'm training as assistant and Barcelona call me, I go.'

Guardiola also insisted he fully-expected Arteta to go on and manage a club and believed it is always the right decision to let players and coaches move on if they want to.

He added: 'I said many times to my players and staff. We felt if one team could offer him a role as manager he'd leave.

'I'm not a guy to say "stay with me". Everyone has dreams. People have to fly when they believe it is the best.

'To players, if they are not happy, they have to leave , life is too short.'

Friday's FA Cup tie is potentially a mouth-watering clash with Arsenal currently leading City by five points in the Premier League title race with a game in hand.

They are yet to play each other in the league and the cup game provides the opportunity to strike a psychological blow on their title rivals.