Laporte: Arteta will make great things in his coaching career

Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte says his former assistant coach Mikel Arteta will "achieve great things" as a manager.

City take on Arteta's new side Arsenal, live on Sky Sports, on Wednesday and Laporte says he owes a lot to the Spaniard from his time at the Etihad.

"Mikel is a great coach and, for me, he has been one of the best people I have met in Manchester," Laporte said.

"He tries to help players all the time, he had a really good relationship with everyone and with me especially.

"I think he's a great manager and he will make great things in his coaching career."

City are 25 points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool, with Jurgen Klopp's team potentially just one victory away from the title.

But Laporte says it's important he and his team-mates focus on the Champions League and FA Cup, which they are both still in contention for.

He said: "We have to look positively because if we look at the Premier League, we know it's difficult or impossible to get it.

"But we have two other competitions to fight and we will fight until the end to try and win these trophies.

"You think about [Liverpool's lead] but we have to focus on ourselves and what we do and try to do the best we can.

"Personally, I got injured for a long time this season which was a bad thing for me and the club as well. Now we have to be focused on the next steps and we will see what happens.