Mikel Arteta insisted he has a clear conscience over his time at Manchester City, after the club were found guilty of serious financial breaches.
An independent commission found that City operated a “disguised funding scheme” over nine seasons from 2009/10 to 2017/18, artificially inflating their revenues by more than £900million.
Arteta's time at City
Arteta was Pep Guardiola's assistant between 2016 and 2019, with the first two of those years falling in the period that City have been found guilty of breaching Premier League regulations.
There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing from Arteta, who took charge of Arsenal in 2019. Over the past four seasons, the Gunners have been the most consistent challenger to City's place at the top of English football.
On Friday, Arteta largely refused to be drawn on the verdict against City and what it meant for the Premier League, emphasising the need to "respect the process".
Process not resolved
However, asked if his conscience was clear from his spell as Guardiola's assistant, Arteta responded firmly: “Yes."
The Gunners' boss is in a unique position in that he worked at City during those years and has since competed against them as a rival.
He also played for Arsenal for five years during the period in which City were found guilty of breaching financial regulations.
Pressed on how the news of the commission's verdict made him feel, considering that context, the Spaniard said: “The thing is that this has been going for various years. That process is still not finished.
"It is is very difficult to express how I feel, because it is not resolved. When it is resolved I can talk with clarity and tell you exactly how I feel."
No added incentive
When asked whether he was looking forward to giving that opinion, Arteta continued with the straight bat.
“I think that process has to be resolved in a way and we need to trust that the people in charge will do it in the timeframe that they believe is the best for everybody," he said.
He also did not want to engage with the suggestion that the case had impacted how the Premier League was viewed around the world.
"I want to think that it doesn't, but I don't know," Arteta said.
"Uncertainty is not in our control and our control is to bring everything that we can individually through the club to maintain the position that we have to be the best league in the world."
There has been little in the way of clarity on when a final resolution for this saga will come.
City have lodged their appeal and there has not yet been official word on what sanctions they will face if that is unsuccessful.
A significant points deduction, and even potentially a transfer ban, would leave Arsenal in a strong position to consolidate their position as Premier League champions.
However, Arteta insisted that Arsenal did not need that as an added incentive to be more aggressive in pushing for dominance.
“I think we control our accelerator, and believe me, for seven years, it's been full gas in everything that we can do," Arteta said.
"Take every corner at max speed, but understanding what our strength and the things that we can do."
