PEP GUARDIOLA can leave Manchester City at the end of the season due to a newly-revealed contract clause, according to reports.
The two-time Champions League-winning coach has a stipulation in the deal he signed last season that allows him to leave the Etihad at the end of this season, even though it lasts till 2021.
According to the Mail, the 48-year-olds clause has forced City to make contingency plans if he leaves, with ex-Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino in the frame.
Champions City are increasingly becoming an afterthought in the Premier League title race, with Liverpool now 14 points ahead of them with 22 games to go.
Yet his burning desire is to win the Champions League for a third time, while the City ownership are also desperate for him to do so.
But Guardiola is surely unlikely to trigger any clause, after being given backing to the tune of hundreds of millions at the Etihad.
His former Barcelona colleagues Txiki Begiristain and Ferran Soriano are among the top brass at the club on the footballing side, while chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak wants him to stay.
And City have made big-money signings under his watch while playing an exciting pass-and-move brand of football seen at Ajax and later Barcelona.
INJURY WOES
Guardiola has not remained in previous jobs longer than four seasons though.
His stint at Barcelona ended after four years, with the former midfielder taking a sabbatical 12 months in New York.
He then headed to Bayern Munich, where he lasted three seasons, before choosing to depart for the Premier League.
