Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has confirmed to Sky Sports he will “take a break” from football when he leaves the club, but he will not retire.

In the hours before City’s home Premier League game against Wolves, quotes from Guardiola in an ESPN Brasil interview emerged where he vowed to “stop” when he left his role as Man City boss and was unsure whether he would retire.

The Spaniard signed a new deal at the Etihad Stadium in November, tying himself to the club for two more seasons until June 2027.

Asked to clarify his comments by Sky Sports ahead of the match against Wolves, Guardiola said: “I didn’t say I was leaving now or at the end of the season. If they sack me, then yes!

“I said that when I finish my time here in I don’t know one, two, three, four, five or years, I don’t know, I will take a break, so I’m not retired, but I will take a break, for sure.”

He added: “Do you know what a two-year contract for a manager in football means? It’s an eternity, so what I’m saying is that when I’m finished here, I will take a break.

“I will need to make a stop, that’s all.”

Ex-Man City defender Micah Richards then joked to Guardiola he should stay for another 10 years, but a smiling Guardiola replied: “It’s not going to happen.”

Guardiola has previously taken a year off after he left Barcelona before joining Bayern Munich in 2013.

Pep critical of his management this season

The Spaniard has enjoyed a trophy-laden time at City since taking charge in 2016, including six Premier League titles and a Champions League.

But City have been off the pace this season, sitting 21 points behind Premier League champions Liverpool and are scrambling to stay in the Champions League places, although they can still win silverware with an FA Cup final to come against Crystal Palace at Wembley on May 17.

Guardiola believes their injury-hit season, which included a seven-game winless run, has been a “good experience” for him.

He told Sky Sports: “What happened in November and December when we were not able to win games, of course, I thought, ‘What can I do?’

“I didn’t click, I didn’t find a way because I had the feeling the players still follow me, but I didn’t find the problems.

“I said many times, when we won the Premier League in the previous season we always had problems, always we had injuries, but not this incredible amount.

“I don’t know when a team can sustain without having the best player in the world [Rodri] all season, and the best player in the Premier League last season – Phil (Foden) has had injury problems. Kevin (De Bruyne) has come back at the end.

“There was a moment with four central defenders out, so it’s difficult to sustain every three days.

“But I should have found something, but I didn’t find it.

“For example, (James) McAtee and Nico O’Riley didn’t play and in the last period they have played, so why didn’t they play, I ask myself now.

“They have proved I was wrong and they could play and I didn’t do it so I didn’t find the way to do it. It’s been a good experience for me, and hopefully next season I can be a little bit more brilliant to find more comfortable positions with the players, and hopefully we can finish this season with the FA Cup, and especially qualify for the Champions League next season.”

Carra: Pep will deserve a year’s break

Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher believes the 54-year-old will “deserve” a break when he takes one.

He told Sky Sports News: “I think they’ll have the reset in terms of what they’ll do in the market in the summer, and there was a lot of talk of Pep maybe leaving this season, but he signed a contract this season.

“Everybody who works with him tells you how intense he is, so uncertain players can’t put up with that so long. That’s why it feels at times there is a lot of change at Manchester City in terms of personnel. If someone’s not happy, they get moved on quite quickly because even though Pep is the most successful coach we’ve probably ever seen and probably ever will see.

“It is tough working with him, so you can imagine what it’s like when he’s taken his work home with him, and he’s been here a long time as well.

“He’s been very successful and he deserves a break of a year if he needs it – if he feels he needs one, he needs one.”