- Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta worked at Man City
- He was Pep Guardiola’s assistant for three years
- Ex-City keeper Scott Carson has been discussing Arteta
Former Manchester City goalkeeper Scott Carson has revealed what Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was really like during his time as City assistant manager under Pep Guardiola.
After he retired from playing, Mikel Arteta had several options to begin his coaching career. He could have led Arsenal’s academy under former boss Arsene Wenger, or joined ex-teammate Mauricio Pochettino’s backroom staff at Tottenham.
Instead, however, he opted to work under Pep Guardiola at Man City. Arteta was appointed assistant manager at the Etihad Stadium in July 2016.
The Spaniard enjoyed a successful spell in the dugout alongside Guardiola, but not everyone remembers him fondly from his time at the club.
Scott Carson recalls ‘standoffish’ Mikel Arteta
Speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast, ex-City goalkeeper Scott Carson remembered his time working with Mikel Arteta.
The 40-year-old was a backup goalkeeper, and suggested this influenced how much Arteta interacted with him at the club.
Carson said: “I always found him a little bit standoffish, I think. He probably didn’t need to speak to me because I wasn’t one of the ones that was gonna have to play.”
What Mikel Arteta was REALLY like at Man City 👀 pic.twitter.com/YFGuLIREnh
— The Good, The Bad & The Football (@goodbadftblpod) April 28, 2026
Podcast hosts Paddy McGuinness and Man United legend Paul Scholes argued an assistant should be more involved, though.
McGuinness: ‘Yeah, but I think that’s one of the signs of being a good manager, when they do speak to people and make everyone feel a part of it.”
Scholes: “But I think when Scott’s got him he’s [Arteta] a number two, do you know what I mean? As number two he might have been standoffish because he’s preparing to be a manager, which he probably was.”
Pundits claim Arteta did not want to be in Pep Guardiola’s shadow
The pair, along with fellow presenter and Scholes’ former United teammate, Nicky Butt, even suggested that Arteta’s mind may have been elsewhere and focused on becoming a Premier League manager on his own.
McGuinness argued that the Spaniard’s role as assistant should have made him closer to fringe players, saying: “But I think a number two is more a mate of the players.”
However, Scholes responded: “That’s what I’m saying, he should be. But it doesn’t sound like he was like that.
Nicky Butt added: “That’s an example of where he is now. So basically, in his head, he’s gone, ‘I don’t want to be a number two, I want to be there where Pep is. The big job’.
“And looking at what Arteta’s done now he’s obviously never wanted to do that [be an assistant] for any length of time, so it looks like he was just blinkers on to go and be a manager.”
Will Arteta finally beat his mentor this season?
It’s been several years in the making, but the student-mentor relationship between Arteta and Guardiola has developed into a fierce rivalry in recent seasons.
The two former colleagues now coach the best two sides in England, and are vying for the Premier League title.
Arsenal are three points clear, and could stretch that gap to six before City play again on Monday against Everton.
Time will tell if this is Arteta’s year to finally claim victory over Guardiola. But whoever wins the title, this should be one of the most exciting Premier League finales for a long time.
