Pep Guardiola has already decided to join Manchester City

Bayern Munich fear they have failed to keep Pep Guardiola out of Manchester City’s clutches.

The German giants were stunned last month when Guardiola turned down their offer to make him the highest-paid coach in the world when the Spaniard told them that money was not his main motivation.

And Bayern have now virtually admitted defeat in their efforts to tie the 44-year-old to a new contract after the former Barcelona boss rebuffed them again when they came back with a second proposal during the week that would give him complete control of the club’s transfer policy.

Bayern chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge was forced to abandon a plan to announce a new two-year deal for Guardiola at the club’s AGM on Friday night.

The Bundesliga champions are now bracing themselves for Guardiola to make the bad news official during next month’s winter break in Germany.

Rummenigge spent last week briefing German journalists that Guardiola is not irreplaceable – and former Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti has already been approached about taking over.

And Sunday Mirror Sport understands that City WILL make an official approach for the world’s most-wanted manager once they are cleared to do so.

The Etihad club have insisted that reports in Spain that they have already done a deal with Guardiola are premature.

But City do want Guardiola - and are resolved to making him their new manager even if current boss Manuel Pellegrini plots a successful season.

The club has been gripped by Pep-mania for months, with the Spaniard’s planned arrival next summer the talk of City’s offices and training ground.

City’s Abu Dhabi-based owners believe his appointment will confirm that they are now one of the biggest clubs in the world.

Rummenigge was a chief architect of the Financial Fair Play Regulations that City believe have been designed only to protect the status quo in European football.

And both Rummenigge and disgraced former Bayern president Uli Hoeness – currently serving a 42-month jail sentence for tax evasion – have been outspoken critics of the way Sheikh Mansour has invested in City.

Rummenigge has questioned why Guardiola would join City given Bayern’s European pedigree and illustrious history.

But City’s capture of Guardiola would change that perception forever.

 

Guardiola, who normally attends the Bayern AGM with his wife and children, was nowhere to be seen this year.

And he also failed to show for the press conference in the build-up to yesterday’s game against Hertha Berlin.

City are willing to beat the basic £15million-a-season deal that Bayern offered Guardiola, with bonuses on top.

The appointment would be a major coup for chief executive Ferran Soriano and sporting director Txiki Begiristain, who both developed close professional and personal relationships with Guardiola when they worked with him at Barcelona.