Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has claimed he has not made any decisions about his future and that “anything” could still happen beyond this this season.

Guardiola is in the final year of his contract with City, having been with the club since 2016 to make it by the far longest spell of his coaching career to date.

It was reported earlier this month that a decision over Guardiola’s departure at the end of his contract was made at the end of last season. City’s response to that has been trying to persuade him otherwise and rumour has it he is “considering” extending again.

Guardiola has been touted as a potential England manager, with the FA yet to make a permanent plan following Gareth Southgate’s resignation following Euro 2024. The timing, with the Spaniard potentially available from summer 2025, a year before the next World Cup, and Lee Carsley holding the fort in the intervening months as an interim, is convenient.

But, in an appearance on Italian television during the international break, Guardiola denied that anything with regard to his future has been decided.

“It’s not true, I haven’t decided yet,” he said on the subject of leaving City in 2025, to Che Tempo Che Fa. “And it is not even true that I will be the next England coach. If I had decided I would say it… I don’t know either, anything can happen.”

The potential need for succession planning at City will come into play at some stage. It was reported over the weekend that the club want a definitive answer from Guardiola by the end of the calendar year, which would give them time to scan the market for the best possible replacement. That apparent deadline is already only 11 weeks away.

In that sense, Liverpool had several months to secure Arne Slot as a successor to Jurgen Klopp and that has worked wonders for the resurgent Reds so far.

Change is definitely coming at the Eithad Stadium in 2025, regardless of Guardiola’s intentions. Long-serving director of football Txiki Begiristain’s departure as he moves towards retirement has been confirmed, with former Newcastle United midfielder Hugo Viana already appointed as his successor from next season after impressing in a similar role in recent years with Sporting CP in Portugal.

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