Mikel Arteta’s friendship with Pep Guardiola appears to be a little less amicable at the moment, as the pair appear to be throwing little digs at each other in this week’s press conferences.

Although they are currently matchday rivals, Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola have always insisted they remain friendly off the pitch.

Arteta said in a recent press conference: “I love him, I respect him and I admire him, his team and everything he does. “This is a sport – one is our profession and the other is our personal relationship.”

But after Arsenal’s heated clash at the Etihad Stadium last weekend, a few cracks may have begun to show this week.

In his press conference ahead of Arsenal’s game against Leicester City, Arteta suggested he would rather anger his opponents over a good result than pat him on the back and praise his team after a defeat – something Guardiola has often done.

“I want to win by preparing the games and playing in our own way, but also understanding the context,” Arteta began.

“I would much rather have that than someone clapping me on the back after the game and saying, ‘Well done, you’re on the right track,’ than seeing that reaction.”

But it wasn’t those comments that got under Guardiola’s skin. Instead, there was another press conference in which Arteta said he knew how City themselves deal with the “dark arts” in football, having been at the club for four years.

“Well, next time Mikel has to be clearer,” Guardiola said. “Next time he has to be clearer about what exactly he means.

“Because it may be related to the trial now with 115 charges, maybe that’s why, maybe he knows the information about it.” Or maybe something like… I don’t know, because next time I really need to see more clearly what exactly happened.

“Next time, the good relationship I have with him, hopefully that question has been asked and he can answer exactly what that means.”

The situation is now likely to calm down somewhat as Arsenal – barring a cup tie – will not face Manchester City again until February.

But after many pleasantries between the two in the past, something now seems to be bubbling under the surface.