Guardiola: "He's already an incredible, incredible manager. He will have incredible success in the future."
Saturday 21 September 2019 17:25, UK
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has hailed his "incredible" assistant manager Mikel Arteta, tipping the Spaniard to replace him as manager when he leaves.
The Spaniard emerged as one of the front-runners for the Gunners job after Arsene Wenger retired in 2018, but wanted to stay and learn at the Ethiad.
Guardiola has been assisted by the former Arsenal and Everton midfielder since he joined the club, and he is confident that Arteta is the right man to replace him when he eventually leaves.
"I'm pretty sure [he'll succeed me]. He will have success," he said.
"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."
There is no indication that Guardiola will leave City anytime soon, claiming he "will stay for two more years and hopefully another one" when he was linked with the Juventus job in the summer.
But the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss hasn't stayed longer than four years at any of his previous clubs
The 48-year-old has not just praised Arteta's coaching ability on the pitch, but also his character and morals off it.
Guardiola said: "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."
Arteta had a playing career which spanned across 17 years, six clubs and four countries, including over 250 appearances in the Premier League.
And the City boss believes that Arteta's playing career has had a positive impact on his potential future as a head coach.
He said: "He's helped a lot. Especially in the first year when we played Stoke and whatever - he knew the players we were going to face better than we because he played a lot against them."
"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."
