Man City player Kevin De Bruyne's honest opinion of Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta after touchline clash

Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne clearly thinks very highly of Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta despite their midweek touchline fracas.

De Bruyne, 31, was involved in an incident with Arteta which saw the Belgium international shove the opposition boss in the process of retrieving the ball back from the sidelines. The pair were, though, seen exchanging a smiling embrace following the full-time whistle, which is much more in line with the player's previous comments about the former City coach.

Arteta spent three-and-a-half years as manager Pep Guardiola's assistant coach between 2016 and 2019, working with De Bruyne for the entirety of that time before leaving to take the Arsenal job. In October, around the time that the clubs were originally due to play each other in the Premier League, made clear his feelings about Arteta.

READ MORE: What De Bruyne did to Arteta during Man City match

Asked about the Arsenal manager in an interview with Sky Sports, the City player said: "I see a lot of similarities with the way that we play, but that has always been his style, so I think when he stopped playing and came here, it was a good learning school."

De Bruyne continued: "I saw an evolution from the beginning of Mikel to after the three years when he left. At the beginning, he was adapting, but then he was getting more and more into his role.

"We also saw he had a lot of ambition, and when an opportunity came, he took that. It's nice to see that he got the time from Arsenal. I'm happy for him that it's going well."

After the 3-1 win, City now sit ahead of Arsenal in the Premier League table due to their superior goal difference (+36 versus +26). The north London side do, though, still have a game in hand over City at home