Pep Guardiola is “incredibly happy” at Manchester City and is hopeful of prolonging his stay at the club amid fresh links with a return to Barcelona.

Barca presidential candidate Victor Font stated this week he intends to lure Guardiola back to Camp Nou should he succeed Josep Maria Bartomeu, who stepped down along with the entire board on Tuesday ahead of a vote of no confidence. Guardiola won three LaLiga titles and two Champions League crowns during a trophy-laden spell in charge of the Catalan giants between 2008 and 2012. The 49-year-old is into his fifth season with City – more than he has managed at any previous club – but is due to be out of contract at the conclusion of the current campaign. Despite not yet opening talks with the club over fresh terms, however, Guardiola has insisted he is open to staying on at the Etihad Stadium beyond the end of 2020-21. “I’m incredibly happy here,” he said at Friday’s news conference when asked about Font’s comments. “I’m delighted to be in Manchester and hopefully I can do a good job this season to stay longer,” Pep said while not directly answering. City have had a largely mixed start to the campaign, most recently following up a 1-1 Premier League draw at West Ham with a 3-0 victory at Marseille in the Champions League.