Pep Guardiola drops HUGE hint on Man City future

Stuart Telford

• 6 Aug 2023 11:21 BST
• 3 min read

Pep Guardiola is often linked with a return to Barcelona, but the Catalan tactician is happy at Manchester City for now…

Guardiola signed a new contract with Man City in December, extending his stay until 2025 and dashing any hopes Barca might have had about a potential return.

Guardiola previously spent four seasons as Barcelona's head coach, followed by three as Bayern Munich's, which means his seven-year stay at City is already comfortably his longest managerial role.

READ: Man City answer PSG & Barca over Bernardo Silva interest

But having won the continental treble with City last season, speculation has once again arisen that Pep would be ready for a new challenge. It sounds like he is plotting a longer stay, however.

Pep: 'I feel comfortable'

"I signed a contract for another two years because I feel comfortable - and nothing has changed whether we won [the Treble] or didn't win," he said ahead of City's Community Shield meeting with Arsenal on Sunday.

"I'm happy and the people are happy, the board and the hierarchy especially, because they decide in the end which manager is going to lead this group of players.

"If they are satisfied, I'm still satisfied. I want to defend what we won and maybe at the end of the season, if I am tired, we will talk with the club - or maybe extend more.

READ: Guardiola would have let Cancelo join Man Utd

Guardiola has recently hit out at clubs for courting his players without making a direct approach to the club, in the cases of Bernardo Silva to Barcelona and Kyle Walker to Bayern Munich - neither of which have happened.

There have been some significant departures from Man City this summer, with Riyad Mahrez joining Al-Ahli for €35 million while Ilkay Gundogan and Benjamin Mendy have left on frees to Barca and Lorient respectively.

Going in the other direction, the squad has most recently been bolstered with Josko Gvardiol's €90m arrival from Manchester City. Mateo Kovacic had previously been signed for £25, (€29.1m) from Chelsea.