Ahead of the FIFA Ballon d’Or ceremony on Monday night, Pep Guardiola confirmed that he would make a return to coaching at the end of his year long sabbatical this summer. However, the former Barcelona coach denied that had made an agreement with any of the many clubs chasing his signature.

"I'm young but have spent my whole life working in soccer and needed a break,” Guardiola said. “I explained my reasons at the time. I have no team in mind and don't know where, but I will return next year." The Catalan denied receiving offers for the Brazilian national team and Bayern Munich in Germany. “I want to return to coaching next year and that's what I'll do, but nothing has been decided," he reiterated.

Guardiola has said he does not want to coach a team that would be in direct competition with Barca, so that would rule out teams in Spain. But the likes of Chelsea in England, AC Milan in Italy, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain in France are all believed to be monitoring the situation.