Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was asked about Manchester City being found to have arranged “sham contracts” with commercial partners to inflate revenues during a period in which he worked as Pep Guardiola’s assistant; City have lodged an appeal and deny the chargers Mikel Arteta has said he has a clear conscience over his former club Manchester City’s serious breaches of financial rules. An independent commission found that between 2009/10 and 2017/18, City artificially inflated their revenue by £830m. The club have lodged an appeal and deny all wrongdoing. The investigation covered two years in which Arteta was working as assistant to manager Pep Guardiola but, in an otherwise guarded press conference, the Arsenal boss answered “yes” when asked if he had a clear conscience.
Arteta, who this week signed a new four-year contract as Arsenal manager, faced a string of questions over the City verdict by journalists but repeatedly insisted he would not comment further until the outcome of City’s appeal is known. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player “The thing is that this has been going for various years,” he said. “The process is still not finished, so it’s very difficult to express how I feel because it’s not resolved. When it’s resolved, I can talk with clarity and tell you exactly how I feel.
“I think that process has to be resolved in a way. And we need to trust that the people who are in charge doing that will do it in the timeframe that they believe is best for everybody.” Arteta spent three-and-a-half seasons working with Guardiola, including the 2016/17 and 2017/18 campaigns, when City won back-to-back Premier League titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups, before leaving the club to take charge of Arsenal in 2019. According to the independent commission, City artificially inflated their sponsorship income by £264.3m across the 2016/17 and 2017/18 seasons, a period during which their signings included John Stones, Aymeric Laporte, Bernardo Silva, Ederson and Kyle Walker. Arteta refused to comment when asked if his memories of working at City had been tainted.
When asked whether he was pleased to have won the Premier League title for Arsenal before the verdict, he said: “I feel proud and very emotional when I think about how we won it, the moments that we had together. It’s a unique and genuine feeling that I have.” Arteta insisted the Premier League will “100 per cent” continue to be the best league in the world despite questions of integrity being thrown up by the City verdict. “It’s the best league in the world for many reasons,” he added. “I’ve been here for over 20 years and it will continue to be the best league in the world.
I feel privileged to be where I am. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player “And there are a few clubs who have been extremely good and managed resources in an intelligent way. And we suffered from that a few weeks ago [with their defeat to Brighton].” However, following comments by Nottingham Forest boss Oliver Glasner, who said the Premier League has been “damaged” by City being found guilty, Arteta admitted he was unsure about the impact on the competition’s reputation globally. “I want to think that it doesn’t [damage the Premier League] but I don’t know,” he said.
“And certainly it’s not in our control. “In our control is to bring everything we can individually to the club, to maintain the position we have to be the best league in the world.” Play Super 6 for a chance to win £1m! Enter for free.
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