‘If I don’t stay, the club will be perfect’ – Pep Guardiola speaks on his Manchester City future

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says the club will cope ‘perfectly’ if he decides to leave the club.

No one at Manchester City is panicking about Guardiola’s future as manager of the Premier League champions — but there’s an acceptance that it won’t be long before the questions start again.

Guardiola, 51, is out of contract in the summer and, without fresh terms being agreed, he could leave the Etihad Stadium at the end of the season.

City have made no secret of their desire to keep hold of Guardiola, winner of four Premier League titles and five other major trophies since he arrived in 2016, but asked in August about whether this could be his last year at the club, the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss was typically vague.

While the manager has said he will not betray the club when he makes a decision, he has also suggested that he could run down his contract before announcing his next move.

Ahead of Manchester Derby, Pep Guardiola has again spoke on his Manchester City future during an interview with SkySports.

“My future is to win [against Manchester United] the day after tomorrow… Well, I would say my future is lunchtime, I’m starving, I didn’t have breakfast and I’m starving” he said.

“Before, when I started to be a manager, I was thinking, ‘Oh next month, or next week. Now I think, what a waste of energy, thinking about what is going to happen next season… I want to enjoy the preparation for United.”

“Again being part of another derby, try to beat them, if we win we’re happy, if we don’t we have a Champions League game three days later, prepare the other one. This is my job. In the moment with the club, we’re going to decide.”

Pep Guardiola went ahead to add that the club will cope ‘perfectly’ if he decides to leave the club.

“If I stay at Man City, perfect. And if I don’t stay at Man City, the club will be perfect too, because I know how strong they are and how good the decisions are that they take.”

Jurgen Klopp signed a new deal at Liverpool recently, and Manchester City fans will be praying the club can convince Pep Guardiola to do the same when the time comes.

Premier League fixtures have been suspended between Nov. 13 and Dec. 26 to accommodate the tournament in Qatar, leaving ample time to conclude negotiations and sign on the dotted line.

Confirmation before the restart on Boxing Day would put the issue to bed well before Guardiola enters the last six months of his contract and leave everyone at the Etihad free to focus on the title race and the business end of the Champions League.

But should the matter begin to drag on into the second half of the season, it becomes a problem City could do without. If players were to start returning from the World Cup with Guardiola’s future still up in the air, it would invite unavoidable questions about what happens next — both for Guardiola and the club.