Where does Arteta stand after Man City's 115-charge verdict?

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Mikel Arteta spent three and a half years inside Manchester City's coaching setup during the period the club is alleged to have committed financial wrongdoing — and the reported verdict in that case has put his old employers back at the centre of English football's biggest story.

Manchester City have reportedly been found guilty of 114 of the 115 charges brought against them by the Premier League's independent commission, according to football.london. City continue to deny any wrongdoing, and an appeal process is believed to be underway.

Arsenal, like every other Premier League club that competed during and after the years in question, are waiting for an official announcement. No sanctions have been confirmed and nothing has been formally published.

Arteta's answers in 2023 and 2024

When the charges were first announced in 2023, Arteta was an obvious target for questions given his time on Pep Guardiola's staff. He offered very little.

"I'm not going to make any comment on that, I'm sorry," the Spaniard said. Asked directly whether he had any knowledge of potential wrongdoing at City during his time there, he replied simply: "No."

A year later, he expanded slightly. "That's something for the authorities to manage," Arteta said. "It's not for us. If they're playing, that means they can play, and they are entitled to play. That's it."

How the City years unfolded

Arteta joined Guardiola's staff immediately after retiring as an Arsenal player. His first trophy as a coach came, fittingly, against the Gunners in the 2018 League Cup final.

In June of that year, after Domenec Torrent departed, Arteta was promoted to assistant manager. He even took charge on the touchline for City's defeat to Lyon while Guardiola served a suspension.

Aymeric Laporte spoke warmly of his influence at the time. "Normally, the coach is on the bench, but we know what we need to do, and we get plenty of guidance from Mikel, who works with us every day. That helps us a lot," the defender said.

"We get on well with Mikel. He was a terrific player and he spends a lot of time with us. He knows what a player is thinking, so I think he's a great coach. We are a competitive team and we have plenty of people who will help us tomorrow. Mikel and Pep are very complementary, and they have both lived and breathed football."

Arteta left the Etihad in December 2019 to take the Arsenal job. He had been considered for the role in the summer of 2018 following Arsene Wenger's departure, only for the club to appoint Unai Emery instead.

A coaching role, not an executive one

Guardiola's own stance before the reported verdict was that he had been given explanations he believed, and that he would have walked away had it become clear he was lied to. The distinction he has consistently drawn is between executive decision-making and the work done on the training pitch.

As football.london notes, Arteta's remit at City was significantly narrower than Guardiola's and covered a far shorter window — which is why the suggestion he could be personally caught up in any fallout is described as a misconception, in the same way it would be for any player who featured for City in that period.

With the appeal process ongoing and no official announcement yet published, the full picture — and any consequences that follow — remains some way off.