Pep Guardiola is certain he will take a break from coaching or retire when he finally leaves Manchester City.

Guardiola has overseen the most successful period in City's history since arriving at the Etihad Stadium in 2016, winning an extraordinary 18 trophies.

That haul includes the club's first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles. Only Manchester United icon Alex Ferguson, with 13, has won more top-flight crowns as a manager.

Guardiola's contract with City was due to expire at the end of this season, and he was strongly linked with the England job before Thomas Tuchel took the reins, yet he penned a new deal to run until 2027 in November.

That is despite the uncertainty surrounding City after they were charged with 115 breaches of the Premier League's financial rules, with a verdict in that case expected soon.

But when the time comes for Guardiola to leave City, he will not walk straight into another job, echoing the 12-month sabbatical he took between leaving Barcelona in 2012 and joining Bayern Munich in 2013.

"I want people to remember me however they want," Guardiola said in an interview with ESPN Brasil. "After my contract with City, I'm going to stop. I'm sure. 

"I don't know if I'm going to retire, but I'm going to take a break. How I want to be remembered, I don't know.

"All coaches want to win so we can have a memorable job, but I believe that the fans of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City had fun watching my teams play.

"I don't think we should ever live thinking about whether we're going to be remembered. When we die, our families cry for two or three days and then that's it, you're forgotten. 

"I'll tell you that the most important thing is not what people think of you, after all, our lives as footballers have been very good. There are new challenges as a coach, I don't know what will happen in the future."

City have endured a miserable 2024-25 season and are locked in a battle to secure Champions League qualification, fighting it out with Newcastle United, Chelsea, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa for a top-five finish.

But City still have a chance of silverware as they face Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final on May 17, and Guardiola is sure everyone at the club will learn from a poor campaign.

"It was a year of great learning. There is not just one reason why this year was difficult, there are many details, like wrong decisions made for me. So, it has been a year of great learning for me, personally," Guardiola said.

"I knew there would be a moment when we would fall, but we fell a lot. We didn't expect to be so far off, but we can't win them all. 

"What we did during 10, nine years was exceptional, but now we have to sit down and learn to try to understand what we need to produce in the future."