City are in good Kompany as search for Pep successor will gather pace

NEXT month, Pep Guardiola will enter the final 12 months of his current City contract and his recent comments suggest he still has not decided whether to extend.

- JOE BRAY

Speaking after securing his sixth Premier League title, Guardiola said: "I want to continue next season but the reality is I'm closer to saying bye-bye than staying for another seven years. Next season we talk and we decide what is best for everyone. Right now I'm exhausted and tired, but I'm happy, I'm fine."

There was some confusion over his comments, but the general reading has been that Guardiola means he will honour the final year on his contract, and may still extend, but will not be staying for another seven years.

City will be calm over the manager's stance, and will also have provisional plans for what happens when Guardiola does depart.

If it was up to Guardiola to choose his successor, he may back a familiar face. "He will be back sooner or later. His destiny to be manager of City is already written in the stars," he said of former captain Vincent Kompany last season.

"It's going to happen. I don't know when but it's going to happen."