PEP GUARDIOLA believes Manchester City are a small club in comparison to their Premier League rivals, according to Spanish journalist Lu Martin.
Guardiola's stock has fallen at Manchester City with a string of erratic performances in recent weeks.
They started the season in fine form - winning their first 10 games - but now sit seven points behind table toppers Chelsea.
Guardiola gave a series of tetchy interviews after their 2-1 win over Burnley yesterday, and stunned the world by admitting he is considering retirement.
"I am arriving at the end of my coaching career, of this I am sure," he told NBC.
Martin wrote a book working alongside Guardiola at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
And the Spanish journalist has sensationally claimed that the Manchester City boss views his current club as on the same sort of level as La Liga side Villarreal.
"At the moment his challenge is Manchester City, who are a team like Villarreal in La Liga, for example, a team which is not one of the top sides," Martin told Spanish radio station Cadena Ser.
"I am not giving my opinion, I am telling you what Guardiola thinks, they are like a second-tier team in the Premier League.
"It is 30 years since Man City have won at Liverpool, for example. He sees it as a personal challenge, to compete against the biggest teams.
"In Spain and in Germany he was competing with a big team -- but in England the big teams are Chelsea, Manchester United, other teams. He has a team which is powerful but not the most powerful."
Martin also believes that the Spanish coach will opt for a job at a national side when he leaves the Etihad Stadium in 2019.
"His comments, that his spell as a coach was coming to an end, was about clubs," the journalist added.
"He would still have national team coach [as a future role], which is what I believe will be his next step. Where he wants to show himself, where he can look for a challenge, and he will take that on."
Guardiola's stock has fallen at Manchester City with a string of erratic performances in recent weeks.
They started the season in fine form - winning their first 10 games - but now sit seven points behind table toppers Chelsea.
Guardiola gave a series of tetchy interviews after their 2-1 win over Burnley yesterday, and stunned the world by admitting he is considering retirement.
"I am arriving at the end of my coaching career, of this I am sure," he told NBC.
Martin wrote a book working alongside Guardiola at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
And the Spanish journalist has sensationally claimed that the Manchester City boss views his current club as on the same sort of level as La Liga side Villarreal.
"At the moment his challenge is Manchester City, who are a team like Villarreal in La Liga, for example, a team which is not one of the top sides," Martin told Spanish radio station Cadena Ser.
"I am not giving my opinion, I am telling you what Guardiola thinks, they are like a second-tier team in the Premier League.
"It is 30 years since Man City have won at Liverpool, for example. He sees it as a personal challenge, to compete against the biggest teams.
"In Spain and in Germany he was competing with a big team -- but in England the big teams are Chelsea, Manchester United, other teams. He has a team which is powerful but not the most powerful."
Martin also believes that the Spanish coach will opt for a job at a national side when he leaves the Etihad Stadium in 2019.
"His comments, that his spell as a coach was coming to an end, was about clubs," the journalist added.
"He would still have national team coach [as a future role], which is what I believe will be his next step. Where he wants to show himself, where he can look for a challenge, and he will take that on."