I'll step away from City if I'm a problem

PEP Guardiola has dismissed the claim of his former performance analyst Carles Planchart that he should leave City to look for a new project and "regenerate.

- By TYRONE MARSHALL

The City boss agreed with the premise of Planchart's argument but said he still felt he had the energy to help the players under him at the Etihad and joked he had another decade in him before taking a break.

Guardiola is entering his 10th season in charge of City and has stayed far beyond even his own expectations when he joined the club in 2016.

He spent four years at Barcelona and three at Bayern Munich.

He has a contract that runs until the end of next season, but speaking during the international break, Planchart, who worked with Guardiola for 18 years, said he would advise him to walk away now.

"It's a personal decision he'll have to make. I think a project should last five or six years, no more," Planchart said.

"But not for him, for everyone. Afterward, you have to regenerate.

As a friend, I would tell him to look for a new project because he still has a long way to go."