Pep Guardiola says that he will return to coaching next season but insists that he has not yet decided where. The former Barcelona coach has become the most sought-after manager in Europe, attracting interest from Chelsea and Manchester City among a number of other clubs, but is currently on a sabbatical in New York. Speaking at the Fifa Ballon d'Or awards in Zurich he confirmed for the first time that he will go back into management.

"Next year I will go back into coaching. I do not know where but I will go back," Guardiola said. "It is not that I am missing anything at the moment but I am 41 years old, still young. I currently have the life that I was looking for and that I wanted and my [family] deserved. I don't have a team [yet] and I don't know where I will go but I will go back to coaching."

Asked directly about the possibility of taking over at Bayern Munich, Guardiola said: "Bayern? They have Jupp Heynckes and it would be a lack of respect to talk to a club that has a coach. I repeat: I have taken the decision to return to coaching but not the decision about where I will do it."

It is not clear how much can be read into Guardiola's words about Heynckes and whether they can be applied to English teams but Roberto Mancini is still under contract at Manchester City while Rafael Benítez is formally only Chelsea's interim manager.

Guardiola ruled out an international job when he said that he would not take charge of Brazil because of his belief that national teams should not be coached by foreign managers.

"For a country with so many World Cup wins to think that you can coach them is an honour but I always thought that a national team coach should be from that country," Guardiola said. "But I'm very grateful and it is an honour. I'm living football differently now to the way I did when I worked. I watch games on television and I enjoy watching the big teams play, and watching great players. Like a fan."