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Pep 'pretty sure' Arteta will be his successor at Manchester City

Guardiola says his assistant is ‘already an incredible, incredible manager’.

MANCHESTER CITY MANAGER Pep Guardiola has said he is ‘pretty sure’ that current assistant Mikel Arteta will succeed him in the future. 

After his playing career ended in 2016 Arteta immediately became a part of Guardiola’s staff at the Etihad, where he’s developed a reputation as one of the top up-and-coming young coaches in the game. 

Arteta nearly became Arsenal’s new manager in the summer of 2018, only for the club to make a late U-turn and appoint Unai Emery instead to take over from Arsene Wenger.

But the Spaniard’s chance to manage a club appears likely to come sooner rather than later, and Guardiola believes that Arteta could be the man to take over for him when he eventually leaves City.

“I’m pretty sure [he'll succeed me]. He will have success,” Guardiola said of Arteta.

“Sooner or later it’s going to happen (Arteta becoming a manager). He’s a young, young manager. He has experience already, handling big players and big teams.

“He’s got an incredible work ethic. He has a special talent to analyse what happens and to find solutions.

“We talk a lot about what he believes and how he feels.

“He was a holding-midfielder too and I think he reads the situations.

“The best [midfielders] play thinking about what the team needs in every single moment. He was a master of that. When he was able to see what was needed on the pitch, when you’re off the pitch it’s easier.”

Arteta, 37, played 12 seasons in the Premier League with Everton and Arsenal, and also represented PSG, Rangers and Real Sociedad in a career that spanned 16 seasons. 

Guardiola has praised Arteta’s character, saying that he understands how to command a dressing room.

“He’s a guy who’s so happy when we win but also suffers a lot when we don’t.

“He’s an incredible person, an incredible human being, with incredible values about the dressing room and what it means to be together.

“He’s already an incredible, incredible manager. He will have incredible success in the future.”

Guardiola is in his fourth season as City’s manager, having won the Premier League in each of the past two seasons. 

The 48-year-old has also managed Barcelona and Bayern Munich, and did not stay longer than four seasons at either of his two previous jobs. 

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