Pep Guardiola claims Arsenal are pushing Man City ‘to our limits’
Pep Guardiola has backed Mikel Arteta and Arsenal to ‘continue Jurgen Klopp’s legacy’ by cementing their place as Manchester City’s main Premier League rivals.
City sealed their historic fourth Premier League title in a row and their sixth overall in Guardiola’s reign with a 3-1 win over West Ham at the Etihad Stadium on the final day of the season on Sunday.
Arsenal, meanwhile, beat Everton 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium but were not given any real hope of a slip-up from City and ended up finishing two points behind top spot.
Arteta’s side have now been City’s closest title rivals for the last two seasons and Guardiola is adamant that Arsenal are now ‘here to stay’ as Premier League frontrunners.
‘Before it was Liverpool to push our limits and now it has been Arsenal,’ Guardiola said.
‘I want to congratulate them from the depths of my heart for Mikel, his backroom staff and players and fans. They have had an incredible season. I feel it and they push us to our best like what happened before.
Arsenal ended up finishing two points behind Premier League champions Manchester City (Reuters)
‘We got the message from Mikel and his players. We got it, so we have to make the right decisions in the next years because they are here to stay. He is young. You see Declan Rice, [Martin] Odegaard, [William] Saliba, Gabriel, [Kai] Havertz and [Bukayo] Saka and the keeper.
‘They are so young and have experience in the Champions League. Two years they were close [in the league]. We compete incredibly well and again and for a little margin we won it. We did it and I am incredibly pleased.’
Pep Guardiola says he will miss Jurgen Klopp ‘a lot’ (Getty)
Guardiola then became emotional when he was made aware of Klopp’s assessment that City would not have won four Premier League titles in a row without the Spaniard in charge.
‘I will miss him a lot, Jurgen has been a really important part of my life,’ Guardiola said.
‘He brought me to another level as a manager. We respect each other incredibly. I have the feeling he will be back and I just want to say thank you so much for his words but he knows that behind me there is a lot that this club provides me and gives me, otherwise alone I can’t do it. I’m humble enough to understand that.
‘He helps me with his team, he has been a huge competitor in my life. I didn’t discover the way I can punish them [Liverpool] like I can find for other teams. With him it has been so difficult.
‘I’m pretty sure Mikel will continue his legacy to drive us to another level. I wish him all the best and hope his final game was special, he deserved it.
‘He made Liverpool recognised with his stamp and the incredible pride of being a Liverpool fan. It’s not just about titles, there are personalities that when they arrive in one place they stay for ever and Jurgen and Liverpool will be part of the level of [Bill] Shankly and [Bob] Paisley and these incredible legends, Jurgen will be there.’
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