Arteta’s conscience is clear over Man City rolepublished at 13:15 BST
13:15 BST
Arsenal v Lille (Tue, 20:00 BST)
Laura Scott
BBC sports news correspondent
Image source, Getty Images
Mikel Arteta was asked about his time working at Manchester City during his news conference before Saturday’s Premier League win at home to Leeds United.
He said that his conscience was clear over City’s Premier League rule breaches during a period when he was assistant manager at the club.
The Arsenal boss worked under Pep Guardiola between 2016 and 2019, which overlapped with the nine seasons during which City have been found to have broken rules and disguised secret funding of more than £830m.
Arteta attempted to bat away questions, saying he wanted to “respect” the ongoing process.
However, towards the end of more than half an hour of questioning, he was asked: “You were at City for three-and-a-half years, is your conscience clear? You had a senior position there, is your conscience clear?”
Arteta answered: “Yes.”
His answer was one word, but it was arguably the most revealing part of the whole interaction.
It was the only occasion where the Spaniard did not in some way revert to his messaging about not giving opinions on the case until such a time as there is a resolution.