Pep: ‘If I was an assistant and Barca called me, I would go’
The former captain and manager defended another former Barcelona player, Mikel Arteta
Pep Guardiola has said he understands why his former assistant, Mikel Arteta, left Manchester City to take the job at Arsenal. He compared the situation to his own relationship with FC Barcelona.
“It’s like me, if I’m training here, wherever, as an assistant... and Barcelona calls me, I’ll go to Barcelona. It’s my club.”
Guardiola pointed out that Arsenal was always the club closest to Arteta’s heart, having played there for five years. Arteta was a product of Barcelona’s youth system but never broke into the first team.
He continued: “We scored a lot of goals and he was always jumping and celebrating, except against one team. I was jumping, celebrating, turning and he was sitting. It was Arsenal. Then I realized: ‘This guy likes Arsenal.’
“Everybody has dreams and I know he went to his club, to the club he dreamed of. He was a fan of Arsenal by playing there, he was captain and he loved that club.
“I didn’t want to stand in his way. Life is too short. You have to fly.”
Source: barcablaugranes.com
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