Pep Guardiola says there is nothing to talk about when it comes to whether or not he will remain as Manchester City boss next season.
Reports earlier this week suggested that City were anticipating that Guardiola might be on his way at the end of the season and that they had started shortlisting potential successors, with Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca said to be in the frame.
That came as a surprise to Maresca, who described the Manchester City claims as '100% speculation' and affirmed that he is happy at Stamford Bridge.
Pep Guardiola: 'No discussions' over Manchester City future
Guardiola signed a new contract just over a year ago that is set to run until 2027, but that has not stopped reports from suggesting that the City hierarchy are preparing for the manager to leave the club at the end of the season.
However, Guardiola gave the topic short shrift when it was raised at his Friday press conference.
Asked what questions he would have in mind over his future, Guardiola was keen to shut down the conversation, saying: “There are no discussions — end of the subject. There are no discussions.
"I will not be eternally here, but I’ve said before I will not be here forever. None of us will be forever in this world but there are no discussions.
"What is going to happen will happen, and the club has to be prepared for everything — for the players and the CEOs [leaving] — except the owners.
"They are here unless they are going to sell the club, which I don’t think will happen. The rest, the club has to be prepared but that subject is not on the table right now."
When further pressed on whether he will be in charge at the Etihad next season, Guardiola replied: "I already answered that question two before.
"I’m here! What is going to happen, who knows that? Who knows?
"But even if I had a 10-year contract, or I have six months, football changes a lot.
"Now I’m focused on West Ham, and going for a few days with my dad, and that’s all. And come back for Nottingham [Forest], Sunderland, Chelsea, Brighton."
For FourFourTwo, Guardiola's guarded responses were always to be expected. The manager is right that football is an ever-changing landscape in which contracts often mean very little.
Guardiola may also feel justifiably irked that the topic has come up once again just a year on from repeated speculation that he may be on the verge of leaving the club with his contract running down at the time.
Of course, he subsequently put pen to paper on a two-and-a-half year extension which he presumably hoped would shut down talk of a potential exit for a rather longer spell.
Either way, it would be daft if City were not constantly considering who they might want as their next manager - and the same goes for any club, for that matter. The idea that they might be doing just that should not particularly come as news to anybody.
