Pep Guardiola sends Man City exit message as he admits ‘part of me is leaving’

Pep Guardiola has told Manchester City he won’t leave them in the lurch when it comes to deciding his future.

Guardiola’s current deal runs out at the end of the season, and it remains to be seen if he will remain in charge. The Spaniard travelled to Abu Dhabi in the international break to hold talks with club owners.

Guardiola was approached for the England job in the summer, while his right hand man and close friend Txiki Begiristain will step down as City’s sporting director at the end of this season. Guardiola could decide to make an announcement next month.

And Guardiola has revealed he will tell club bosses of his decision as soon as he’s made one, to give them as much time as possible to find his replacement if he decides to stand down.

Guardiola, whose side travel to Wolves on Sunday, said: “I have to decide. I didn’t take a decision already. When I take it, I will inform you. I’m pretty sure that the club have an option when Txiki leaves, and they have options when Pep leaves.

“Sooner or later it is going to happen, and they have options. It will not be a surprise. If I’m not convinced it is the best of the club, I will not delay an action if I feel it is a problem for the club.

“I will take a decision as soon as possible, but I don’t have that feeling.”

Guardiola admits the departure of Begiristain will feel like losing his right arm, but has backed the club to continue to be successful. And he is even willing to recommend his own successor as manager, if chairman Khaldoon Al-Mubarak wants him to.

Guardiola, who will still be without Kevin De Bruyne for the trip to Molineux, added: “A part of me is leaving, I would say. A friend of mine, I would say the architect, to create one of the best teams ever from Barcelona at that time, and now here.

“I know how grateful he is for this experience here. Personally, he will be missed, for the confidence, for the trust, especially in the bad moments, because he made me incredible balanced in my job.

“But I have the opinion that the club is so solid, incredibly well-structured and it has to be like that. All the families have to move on, and the club will move on.

“Of course if they ask me (who next manager should be), I will give my opinion, but it is not my job.

“The decision belongs to the club. I would say the new sporting director, the moment I’m not here any more, he has to choose.”