Pep Guardiola insisted that Manchester City have put him under no pressure to decide his future – and suggested the club know who is next in line.
The 53-year-old, the first manager ever to win four consecutive English top-flight titles, is out of contract in the summer and yet to communicate whether his stay will extend beyond nine seasons.
Guardiola met with chairman Khaldoon Al-Mubarak while in Abu Dhabi on commercial duties over the international break and had been earmarked as England’s dream appointment to succeed Gareth Southgate.
City are attempting to convince Guardiola to pen a fresh deal after confirming that ex-Newcastle midfielder Hugo Viana is replacing Txiki Begiristain as sporting director next summer.
‘I want to be really, really convinced that it’s the best for the club,’ said Guardiola, who reaffirmed his desire to coach a national team in the future.
‘I will not delay an action knowing that I am creating a problem for the club.
‘If I feel there is a problem right now, I will take a decision as quickly as possible.
‘But I don’t have that feeling because they understand the reasons that I have.’
Guardiola has agreed his last two extensions in November, while Sporting head coach Ruben Amorim and Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso are two candidates to eventually take over.
The Catalan is happy to offer his input into the next boss, adding: ‘I’m pretty sure that the club have an option when Txiki should leave and they have options when Pep will leave.
‘Sooner or later it’s going to happen and they are prepared. If they ask me my opinion, I will give my opinion.
‘But it’s not my job. The decision will be taken for them, not for me.
‘We’ve shared unbelievable moments together. But it has to be the club. It’s the best.
‘So I would say the new sporting director, the moment I’m not here anymore, has to choose his manager.
‘Txiki leaving is a part of me leaving. The architect. He will be missed. He made me incredibly balanced in my job, because I am so energetic when I am going bad, I want to destroy everything.
‘All the time he said, “see you tomorrow, take a coffee”.’