Football: Guardiola gunning for top job at Man United

Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola wants to coach at Man United. Photo / AP

Pep Guardiola would prefer to manage Manchester United when he eventually goes to the Premier League, according to sources close to the Bayern Munich manager.

This presents United with a dilemma as to whether to move for the two-time Champions League winner this northern summer.

Bayern chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge prompted a flurry of speculation before the club's annual general meeting last week when he said that no one was irreplaceable.

Bayern Munich expect Guardiola to decide whether he wants to extend his contract by the end of the year.

The club will proceed with plans to replace him if he refuses to give a commitment by then.

Manchester City have always hoped that, having brought in chief executive Ferran Soriano and sporting director Txiki Begiristain, who worked closely with Guardiola at Barcelona, they would be in pole position to secure his services.

Guardiola's agent Josep Maria Orobit was in England last week, leading to speculation in Spain that a deal had been done to take the 44-year-old to City at season's end.

The Catalan paper El Mundo Deportivo claimed just 24 hours after City lost to Juventus in Turin that the club were tying down Manuel Pellegrini's end-of-season replacement.

Yet sources who have discussed the situation with Guardiola confirm that he wants to manage in England next but that United are his preferred option.

However, Louis van Gaal is under contract at United until 2017, and Guardiola would not want to undermine a colleague, so could even take another year out if he chooses not to stay at Bayern.

Over the weekend Guardiola pointedly ignored questions about his future, saying: "No. Next question - please do not go there." After Bayern beat Hertha Berlin 2-0, to take their points tally to 40 from a possible 42 in the Bundesliga, he was asked what the key factor was in deciding his next club.

- Daily Mail