Pep Guardiola says he will only sign a new Manchester City contract if he "deserves" it
Pep Guardiola has not yet decided whether he will sign a new Manchester City contract.
The Catalan's deal at the Etihad Stadium expires at the end of next season, which will be his fifth in charge of the club.
And although Guardiola insists he will not walk away from Manchester next summer, he remains tight-lipped on his future beyond the 2020/21 campaign.
"I have been here already four seasons at the end of this year and at the end of next year it will be five because I want to be here until then," Guardiola said.
"So it's a long time. Look what happens, clubs sack their managers week by week. I have answered this many times. I am incredibly good here.
"To sign a contract I need to see how this works and if I deserve it. The level, we increased a lot in the last years and the expectations are higher, we have to see if we can handle it.
"It’s not just my decision, the club didn't talk. Now it's a little bit of a break with the family for Christmas, then we prepare for Wolves, then we can think about the future."
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Guardiola lost Mikel Arteta, his former assistant manager, to Arsenal last Friday.
"I've said many times lately, he's now the manager of Arsenal," Guardiola added when asked how he had adapted without the Spaniard.
"We have prepared the last two games without him, tried to readjust how we’ve worked for the last three-and-a-half years, try to adjust the people to do the job he has been doing and work a little bit harder, that's all."
City face Wolves at Molineux on Friday, before hosting Sheffield United two days later.
Guardiola's side are 11 points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand on the champions.
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Greg Lea is a freelance football journalist who's filled in wherever FourFourTwo needs him since 2014. He became a Crystal Palace fan after watching a 1-0 loss to Port Vale in 1998, and once got on the scoresheet in a primary school game against Wilfried Zaha's Whitehorse Manor (an own goal in an 8-0 defeat).