Arteta to travel for City's next game despite Arsenal talks

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Mikel Arteta prepared training at Manchester City on Tuesday and will travel with the team for its English League Cup quarterfinal at Oxford despite being in talks about becoming Arsenal’s next manager.

City manager Pep Guardiola said Arteta, his assistant coach, has been “incredibly transparent and honest” with him about his discussions with Arsenal, adding he would not try to persuade his fellow Spaniard to stay at City because “he is an adult, he knows what he has to do.”

“He knows what we would like but the final decision is personal,” Guardiola said. “Nobody is here if he doesn’t want to be here.”

Arteta has met with officials at Arsenal on two occasions to discuss the manager's job at the London club which is vacant after Unai Emery was fired last month.

Pictures in the British media showed Arsenal managing director Vinai Venkatesham outside Arteta's house in the early hours of Monday, less than 24 hours after City played Arsenal in the English Premier League.

Arteta, who played for Arsenal from 2011-16, has been assistant to Guardiola at City since 2016.

City, the League Cup titleholder, plays away to third-tier Oxford on Wednesday.

Germany winger Leroy Sane remains sidelined as he continues his recovery from a serious knee injury sustained in the Community Shield victory over Liverpool in August.

However, Sane has posted a picture on his Instagram page of him wearing soccer boots, along with the caption: “First pitch session done!”

“It’s the next step, to go to the pitch,” Guardiola said. “The next one will be to start training with us. Even part of the training session, and after a full training session. It's incredibly good news for him and all of us.”

___

More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports