'Now we war' - Angry Pep Guardiola fires back at Mikel Arteta as Man City and Arsenal feud rages

Pep Guardiola called on Mikel Arteta to stop fuelling speculation around Manchester City as he declared the club ready to accept Arsenal's challenge of a 'war'.

Bad blood has swirled between the Etihad and the Emirates since Sunday's bad-tempered affair that saw Arsenal director Tim Lewis leave his seat without shaking hands with his City counterparts. Arsenal have not enjoyed being tagged as masters of the dark arts this week, a phrase that John Stones agreed with in his post-match comments.

Guardiola spoke warmly of Arteta after City's Carabao Cup win over Watford, explaining that he had exchanged messages with his friend after the game and flatly denying the idea that Arsenal's players had targeted Rodri. However, Arteta's cryptic response to Arsenal's use of the dark arts - "I was there for four years. I have all the information. So I know. Believe me,” were his words - did not go down well with his former boss; Guardiola was particularly irked given he gave Arteta his first coaching job and then facilitated his move to Arsenal when City could have blocked an approach from a rival.

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"Next time he has to be more clear exactly what does it mean," said Guardiola. "He said he was here four years and we know exactly what happened here, because it can be related in all the process now with 155 charges, maybe it's about that, he knows information about that maybe. Or maybe he had something like, I don't know, because really, next time I have to see more clearly exactly what happened.

"Next time, like a good relation I have with him, hopefully this question has been asked. He can answer exactly what does it mean when he said he was here and I know what's happening here, and instead of [speculation hanging] in the clouds to be more precise."

Guardiola confirmed that Erling Haaland will be ready to face Newcastle after flying to Norway this week for the funeral of a close family friend. Haaland scored the 100th goal of his City career when he netted against Arsenal, but he also made headlines for his behaviour at the end of the game; he threw the ball at the back of Gabriel's head when John Stones scored, flattened Thomas Partey from the restart, then told Arteta to 'stay humble' and called Gabriel Jesus a 'f****** clown' at the final whistle.

None of those actions resulted in any disciplinary consequences for Haaland, and Arteta sought to draw a line under the comments when asked about them this week. Guardiola does not think that his No.9 will be 'proud' of what he did - but said that he understood Haaland fighting back against the problems that Arsenal brought.

"I would say that sometimes the emotions are so there, when you are, you know..." he said. "Gabriel said it perfectly after the match: 'This is a war, we have here to provoke the opponent, to push them', and at the end, what can you do? So, we have to, okay, you provoke me, okay, I'm there.

"You want a war? Now we war. So, what do I have to do? And after the motion, try the motion. I'm pretty sure he's not proud, but listen. The type of challenge that Arsenal challenges, I understand it."