Pep Guardiola’s agent says he’ll fulfill his Manchester City contract through 2021

Machester City manager Pep Guardiola has recently been linked with a potential return to Bayern Munich in the wake of the departure of Niko Kovac. Hansi Flick has been confirmed as the interim manager until at least Christmas, but Bayern are still on the hunt for a long term replacement for Kovac. Last week, Guardiola’s agent, Josep Maria Orobitg had left the door open for a potential return to Munich for the Spaniard by saying that “nothing is certain in football.”

Now, per Bild+, Orobitg has denied all rumors linking Guardiola with a potential return to Bayern, where he managed from 2013 to 2016. He said that Pep is happy in Manchester and fully expects to fulfill his entire contract with the Citizens that runs through 2021:

Pep is content and very happy in Manchester. His contract runs until June 2021. I have not spoken with anyone in Germany about him — neither with intermediaries nor club bosses. Pep has happy memories of Munich and still has friends there. But he has not at any time shown interest in returning to Germany as coach. That is something that is just as impossible at the present moment as it was last summer with Juventus Turin. Guardiola always fulfills his contracts. I repudiate all the rumors!

A spokesperson for Manchester City added, “we will not take part in speculation.”

Of course, timing is everything. Guardiola is currently faced with an uphill battle after slipping to third place in the Premier League table behind the European champions Liverpool and Leicester City. Guardiola also has yet to deliver in the Champions League, which was one of the club’s top priorities when they signed him as manager.

It is highly unlikely that City’s front office would make a rash decision to end Guardiola’s contract prematurely, but if continuing poor results make it more of a possibility, that might work in Bayern’s favor if the club was determined to bring him back prior to 2021.