Mikel Arteta has described Pep Guardiola as “the best coach in the history of football” ahead of Arsenal’s Community Shield meeting with Manchester City.

The fixture will mark the first time Arteta faces Manchester City without Guardiola in the opposite dugout since becoming Arsenal manager. Guardiola left his position at the end of the previous season after a trophy-laden spell, concluding his tenure with the FA Cup and EFL Cup.

Arteta faced Guardiola 18 times in all competitions, with Guardiola’s City winning 11 of those meetings. Arteta recorded three victories and four draws, with their final encounter ending in a 2-1 league victory for City in April.

‘He has elevated the Premier League’

Despite that record, Arteta offered an emphatic tribute to his former colleague and mentor.

“I am going to fall short on the way I can praise what he has done,” Arteta said. “For the Premier League, for the country, I think he has opened a different way of understanding the game. He has escalated the Premier League to a different level.”

Arteta said Guardiola had established standards the league had not previously witnessed and had influenced coaches and teams across English football.

“For me he is the best coach in the history of football,” he said. “He will be missed in the Premier League but I don't know if coaches will miss him.”

Arteta also expressed gratitude for the time he spent working with Guardiola, saying the experience had helped raise the level of coaching throughout the competition.

“I owe him gratitude for the time I was there, it was incredible,” Arteta said. “He has elevated all the coaches and teams to think and to work in different ways and that has made all of us better.”

Manchester City will now be led by Enzo Maresca, whom Arteta knows well, and the Arsenal manager expects the club to offer a different challenge under its new leadership.

Arsenal have won all three of their previous Community Shield meetings with City: 4-0 in 1934, 3-0 in 2014 and on penalties after a 1-1 draw in 2023. Arteta has also won both of his Community Shield matches as a manager, with both victories coming in shoot-outs.