Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has declared his conscience is clear regarding his time at former club Manchester City, after an independent commission found the club had artificially inflated revenues by £830 million between 2009/10 and 2017/18 — a period that partly overlaps with his spell as Pep Guardiola's assistant. Manchester City have lodged an appeal and deny all wrongdoing.

Arteta offered his most direct response during what was otherwise a carefully guarded press conference, answering a simple "yes" when asked whether he had a clear conscience. Beyond that, he declined to elaborate, insisting the process must run its full course before he would speak with greater candour.

"The process is still not finished, so it's very difficult to express how I feel because it's not resolved," Arteta said. "When it's resolved, I can talk with clarity and tell you exactly how I feel. 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's time at the Etihad

Arteta spent three-and-a-half seasons working alongside Guardiola at Manchester City, including the 2016/17 and 2017/18 campaigns. According to the commission's findings, City artificially inflated sponsorship income by £264.3 million across those two seasons alone — a period that also saw the club sign John Stones, Aymeric Laporte, Bernardo Silva, Ederson, and Kyle Walker. Arteta departed the Etihad in 2019 to take charge of Arsenal.

The Arsenal boss, who this week signed a new four-year contract to remain at the club, refused to say whether his memories of working at Manchester City had been tainted by the verdict. When asked if he was pleased to have delivered Arsenal the Premier League title before the ruling was handed down, he responded: "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."

Premier League reputation under scrutiny

Arteta pushed back on suggestions that the scandal would diminish the Premier League's standing on the world stage, insisting the competition remains the finest in the world — though he conceded uncertainty about its global impact.

"It's the best league in the world for many reasons," he said. "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."

However, after Nottingham Forest manager Oliver Glasner claimed the league had been "damaged" by the commission's verdict, Arteta acknowledged he could not be entirely certain. "I want to think that it doesn't damage the Premier League but I don't know," he admitted. "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."