HARRY Arter said he had a "massive amount of respect" for Pep Guardiola after the Manchester City manager personally offered Arter his best wishes for the birth of his child, which is due this week.

Arter and partner Rachel lost stillborn daughter Renee in December 2015.

Guardiola made a point of speaking to the Cherries midfielder in the immediate aftermath of City's 2-0 victory at Vitality Stadium on Monday night.

Arter told the Daily Echo: "He offered his best wishes for me and my partner this week, which was an unbelievable touch.

"He is someone I have a massive amount of respect for. I watched his Barcelona teams - and look at his Manchester City side tonight.

"For me, he is the best manager in the world. I don’t think there’s anybody close to him and what he has achieved.

"For him to offer that to me, I respected it and accepted it with a smile on my face."

Sky Sports' cameras captured Guardiola saying he was "so sorry for what happened”.

Asked about his talk with Arter in his post-match press conference, Guardiola said: "He will be a father soon so I said big congratulations to him and his partner because I know what happened in the past, and, hopefully, the baby will be well."