Pep Guardiola said Jurgen Klopp's decision to sign a new contract with Liverpool will have no influence on his own future at Manchester City.
Klopp signed a two-year contract extension to stay at Liverpool until 2026, after initially planning to leave Anfield in 2024. City boss Guardiola has one year left on his current deal, but said title rival Klopp's decision to extend his time in England will have no bearing on his own decision.
Guardiola said: “Everyone has their own situation and if we decide to stay longer it's because we all decide together, not because of my colleague staying.
"All my career, 14 or 15 years as a manager, I've had rivals. I think it’s really good for the Premier League that Jurgen’s signed. He decided and the club decided to stick together. I’m more concerned about the last month we have ahead of us. After that, we have time. I have the feeling that one year is a long time. I’m enjoying this part of the season and after that we have time.
“I have an incredible relationship with the chairman and CEO. I’m incredibly happy and could not be in a better place. I can't visualise a better place. But it’s not just me, it’s many other things and situations, so we're going to think about it.” Despite his praise for Klopp, Guardiola took a subtle dig at him after Mohamed Salah was named the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year, ahead of City's Kevin De Bruyne. “Congratulations to Salah,” said Guardiola. “Ours were not in contention. He won it before. Jurgen says they have the best keeper, defender, midfielder and strikers, so it’s normal for them to win the award.”
Guardiola also confirmed City have suffered a defensive set-back ahead of the clash with Leeds at Elland Road. Kyle Walker and John Stones will both miss the match although Joao Cancelo is back after he was suspended for their Champions League semi-final first leg against Real Madrid. Asked if this game had come too soon for Walker, the City boss said "yes" before he answered in response to whether Walker might miss the rest of the season: "I don't know right now. Right now it’s no worry at all - I count on the guys who are fit. He has to work to come back as soon as possible. John Stones is out tomorrow - we will see how he is for Wednesday."
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On the challenge of facing Leeds, Guardiola added: "Always when I play against Leeds it is difficult. Last season we dropped five points against them. Jesse Marsch made a great job in Salzburg, the US, Leipzig - it’s perfect for him. Many teams in England are playing this way. I have a lot of respect. It’s between the Champions League semi-finals, so maybe it’s one of the toughest.
“It’s tougher because Leeds is tough. I know how the crowd is, they are fighting because they need points. We need points too. I saw the team today and they are incredibly focused. Everyone in the club knows what we are playing for. We know what we have to do. We make an incredible last three games, scored a lot of goals and created chances - this is what we have to continue to do.
"Sometimes in football you have rewards, other times defeats. This is the most important game we have. After Madrid, if we are in the final or not, we have four games and we can focus on the Premier League. We have spoken about that. We spoke about what a special team they are and we accept the challenge, we know what we have to do and we will try to do it.”
