Pep Guardiola has revealed he will take a break from football if he does not commit his long-term future to Manchester City this season.
And the record-breaking City boss insists success or failure in the Champions League will have no bearing on the decision what to do when his current contract expires next summer.
Guardiola starts the new season at West Ham on Sunday, setting off in search of a fifth league title in the last six years at the Etihad.
In total, he is embarking on a seventh campaign with the Blues and revealed that, after a round of initial talks, he will continue negotiations, possibly as early as mid-season, about an extension.
That could see Guardiola remain in charge until 2025, and complete nearly a decade with the Blues.
And the 51-year-old admitted that, with personal friends Txiki Begiristain and Ferran Soriano in the main executive roles at the club, he will not leave City for another club.
‘Everything is fluid. I don’t have perspective in the future to say (what will happen),’ said Guardiola.
‘I’m pretty sure I am happy here and at the end I’m going to stay and, if not, it’s not because I want to move forward or move to another place.
‘It’s because I will stop, I will take a break. This is my thoughts right now.
‘First, obviously, I am here because we won; otherwise I would not be here. I have good professionals and they are friends but my friends are not stupid and it is a business and they need results.
‘And the life is the life. Most of the time I am here at these facilities, a lot of hours, and then I take a car and go home. So I like my life, I like my job.
‘I am not alone here. I am happy with the staff, the backroom staff. Six years, we know each other quite well. We know each other. They know me, I know them. We don’t have to make rules, everything is fluid.
‘It is completely different when you first arrive, you have to set, you have to know each other – not just the players. ‘People say I can be happy with the players, with the staff, with the backroom staff, with the hierarchy of the club. Obviously if there was trouble, I had problems, I would not be here seven years.’
Guardiola’s record in domestic football borders on the astonishing – having won the league title 10 times in 13 seasons with City, Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
But his second, and most recent, Champions League triumph came in 2011 although he insists that his success – or otherwise – will have no bearing on his contract decisions.
‘No, for the reasons why when if I won the Champions League two or three years ago, what sense would it be for me to say “If I win the Champions League I have to leave?”‘ he said.
‘No, it’s not about that. It’s not. My life is not dependent on that. Of course I would like to win it. Yes, it’s a dream or a target to do it.
‘I am aware how good the opponents are and how difficult is the competition. I have said so many times and so people might not believe me that I am making an excuse.
‘People say no, I’m here to win it, but I didn’t come here to win the Champions League. They didn’t ask me. Of course they want it and I’m the first to want it but it was the same with Munich. I won it twice with Barcelona. I want to win all four. If I am a manager for 30 or 40 years I want to win the Champions League every season.
‘I don’t feel a failure when I didn’t win it in two years with Barcelona or three years with Munich. We want to win it but at the same time I am not master of the universe. I don’t feel like that.
‘So we tried and we were closer last season and we will try again this season. But I wouldn’t leave in 11 months if we don’t win the CL this season. I’d be the happiest man on the planet if we did. We want to try to do it but will not be the reason.’
Meanwhile, £100 million playmaker Jack Grealish starts his second season with Guardiola this afternoon with his manager demanding – and predicting – a much-improved showing as the former Villa man aims to cement his place in England’s World Cup line-up.
‘The most important thing you need to know about Jack Grealish is that he won the Premier League; he came here to help us to win the Premier League and he did it,’ said Guardiola.
‘Jack is incredibly loved in the locker room. He is so humble and people like him. Of course I want more, not just from Jack but from everyone.
‘I want more, definitely I want more. And he will have to fight. We have a small squad and competition up front is so big and they are really, really good players. But it is what it is. At the end of the day everybody knows Jack. Every player.
‘One minute on the field show me. The much better you play the more chance you have to play more minutes. And we are optimistic because he has arrived here well and he knows he has the World Cup around the corner.
‘The manager Gareth (Southgate) knows he has a big selection because there are many good players in England national men’s team. And everyone knows what they have to do.’
