Guardiola says he's not at Man City to win a Champions League in hint on future

Pep Guardiola insists his Manchester City reign will not be defined by the Champions League.

After winning four Premier League titles in five seasons, the perception outside the Etihad is that the Blues must now become kings of Europe after a catalogue of heartbreaking near-misses. But as Guardiola contemplates what the future will bring when his contract expires at the end of the season, he revealed that City's Abu Dhabi owners have not turned their ambition of winning the Champions League into an obsession.

It is the freedom that Guardiola has been granted working alongside chief executive Ferran Soriano and director of football Txiki Begiristain that makes City optimistic that Guardiola will eventually commit himself to a contract that will take him into an eighth season in Manchester and beyond.

Guardiola said: "People might say it's an excuse but I'm not here to win the Champions League. The owners didn't ask me. Of course they want it - and I am the first to want it. But it was the same with Munich and with Barcelona, where I won it twice.

"Every year I want to win all four titles. And if I am a manager in 30 or 40 years I will want to win the Champions League every season. But I didn't feel a failure in the two years at Barcelona and the three with Bayern when we didn't win.

"We want to win it - but at the same time I'm not the master of the universe. We try to do it. We were closer last season - and we will try again this season. But I'm aware how difficult the opponents are and how the competition is so difficult."

Guardiola may not be the master of the universe - but he is king of all he surveys at the Etihad. Soriano, Begiristain and chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak grant him a freedom he could only dream of at Barca and Bayern.

But as City kick-off the defence of the title at West Ham, Guardiola knows that the pressure to be successful is just as intense in Manchester. He said: "First, obviously, I am still here because we won. Otherwise I would not be here.

"I have good professionals here who are also my friends - but my friends are not stupid. It is a business and they need results. So I am here because we won. But we won together and this is the reason I am here.

"I like my life, I like my job and I like the people I am doing it with. Obviously if there was trouble and I had problems, I would not be here for seven years.

"So everything is fluid. I am pretty sure I am happy here and at the end I am going to stay. If not, it's not because I want to move forward or move to another place. It's because I will stop. I will take a break. These are my thoughts right now."

Guardiola dropped a tantalising hint that he will stay at City for as long as he believes he can improve the team.

There has been a significant restructuring of his squad this summer, with Raheem Sterling, Fernandinho, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko allowed to leave to make room for Erling Haaland, Kalvin Phillips and Julian Alvarez.

Guardiola said: "Always I thought that after five or six years together we need to change the manager - or change a few players. It's good to change, refresh everyone, old players, new players, bring a new energy and new desires.

"You have to take decisions. That's why we are paid. The intention is always to get better. The only thing I'm here for is to make the team play better and the players individually to play better.

"I want to watch the team on the touchline and say 'I like it.' We're going to lose the Premier League at some time because nothing is eternal, not even this team.

"Everyone knows, to win four titles in five years is extraordinary - but we can improve it. When I feel the players here can't make the next step then…"