Pep Guardiola feels that Mikel Arteta is pushing him to improve as a manager.

Arsenal have tussled with Manchester City for the last two seasons in the Premier League, leading the way for long spells before narrowly losing out to the champions on both occasions. The first clash of this season was fiercely fought with a ferocious 2-2 draw at the Etihad before the managers exchanged terse words the following week.

Guardiola tends to get the best of any managerial duels, but places Arteta in the same bracket that Jose Mourinho and Jurgen Klopp previously occupied as elite coaches who have pushed the Catalan to be better. With Arsenal once again showing their title credentials in the early stages of this season, that force is likely to remain.

"It is not important to say [tennis star Novak] Djokovic is better than [Roger] Federer or [Rafael] Nadal: all three are exceptional and they make tennis better. Watch their finals and it is like 'oh my god'. They bring the other to the limits. All of them play better.

"Jurgen Klopp made me a better manager, Jose Mourinho made me a better manager, Mikel Arteta is making me a better manager now. We need that."

Arsenal's strength may be a threat to City's supremacy but Arteta does help fill the void left by Klopp, with many wondering if Guardiola would still have the stomach to continue once his greatest Premier League rival had left Anfield. Arne Slot has made a bright start, and Arteta does not seem to be going anywhere.

That competition will please City bosses hoping that Guardiola signs a new deal in the coming months, with Arsenal helping to keep their manager's fire well stoked. Even if he has won everything there is to win at the club, there is still job satisfaction.

"I still like coming here every morning to work," he said. "I love it, thinking of the messages I have to tell the players and the training sessions I have to prepare.

"Still I like it and this is the main reason I'm a manager. When I don't feel this I will not be a manager, I will not train. That's for sure."