Pep Guardiola rules out Manchester City exit at the end of the season

Champions sit nine points behind leaders Liverpool after defeat at Anfield

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola (Getty Images)

Pep Guardiola has dismissed all suggestions that he will leave Manchester City at the end of the season, insisting he will still be in charge this time next year so long as the club wants him.

City’s title defence is flagging. The champions sit nine points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool following their 3-1 defeat at Anfield before the international break and welcome third-place Chelsea to the Etihad this weekend.

Guardiola’s side have suffered three league defeats in 12 games, having only lost four times during the entirety of last season’s title-winning campaign, and face a testing run of fixtures up until the New Year.

City’s difficult start to the season and the impending threat of a ban from next season’s Champions League has led some to suggest that Guardiola may leave at the end of the season with a year remaining on his current contract.

But on Friday, the Catalan strongly denied that he has any intention of quitting and committed himself to the club until at least the end of his current contract, regardless of whether City win or lose the title.

“I want to stay,” Guardiola insisted. “I don’t have any reasons to move from here, I am incredibly satisfied to work with this club, with these players.

“If the people think I am going to resign or be sacked for these results and nine points behind, the people doesn’t know me. I like to be in this challenge, I love to be in this position.

“And if the club wants [me] next season I want to be here 100 per cent. I want to live in this city because I know lovely people here and I want to work and live with them and I want to be here.

“If they decide the results are getting worse, they are going to take a decision, that’s normal. It’s not because I am friends with Txiki [Begiristain, City’s director of football] that I am going to stay for the rest of my life. I am here because I win.

“If I don’t win I’m in trouble, I know that, but I’m incredibly satisfied to work in this city and this club and I want to help this club to get better. I still enjoy working with these players a lot and I would like to stay longer [than this season]. If the club wants, I will stay.”

Despite City’s defeat, Guardiola was encouraged by the performance at Anfield and compared it favourably to his first trip to Merseyside in December 2016, when Jurgen Klopp’s side ran out 1-0 winners.

“Why should people think I’m not happy here? Because we lost at Anfield or I’ve lost three games this season? That’s an odd reason to say I’m not happy or satisfied to be here,” he added.

“The real situation is 198 points in two seasons, that is exceptional. The first season at Anfield we had one shot on target but the last game we made 18 [shots on goal], more corners, everything more in the most difficult stadium in the world against an incredible opponent. That’s my job.

“The moment I will leave is when I feel my team don’t follow [me] to play at Anfield in the way we played. At that moment I’d say, ‘Wow, I miss my team’ and after I would call my boss and say, ‘Guys, maybe you have to sit and think about [my position]’.

“But I don’t have that feeling, maybe you speak to the players and they say completely the opposite, but I don’t have that feeling. If it’s not enough, next season will be better.”