It is my wish to see Messi finish his career at Barcelona – Guardiola

SHOWS: MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, UK (FEBRUARY 7, 2020) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) MANCHESTER CITY MANAGER, PEP GUARDIOLA, ON LIONEL MESSI, SAYING: "He's a player from Barcelona, he will stay there.

That is my wish.

Stay in Barcelona.

I'm not going to talk about the players from another club.

[JOURNALIST ASKING: But as someone who knows him well, I'm not going to ask you about signing him.

I'm going to ask you whether you think he might play for another European side ever or whether that's just Barcelona.] I think he's going to finish his career there.

That is my wish." 2.

WHITE FLASH 3.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) MANCHESTER CITY MANAGER, PEP GUARDIOLA, ON RAHEEM STERLING INJURY, SAYING: "His hamstring is injured, like you know, and we will see.

Of course, it takes weeks, but we will see if - again, before Leicester , Madrid and the rest of the games.

I don't know right now." 4.

WHITE FLASH 5.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) MANCHESTER CITY MANAGER, PEP GUARDIOLA, ON LEROY SANE, INJURY, SAYING: "He started to train with us.

He's still not - you know, when you have an injury, especially this one for six months, you can't train one week and then immediately you are there.

So, you need to recover the tempo, the rhythm, the confidence in your body, in your knee.

You know, don't think about the injury.

It takes time.

It's not, you know, try to train in the training session and immediately be there.

It's not like an ankle, for example, or a muscular injury.

These injuries in the knee, they always need time." 6.

WHITE FLASH 7.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) MANCHESTER CITY MANAGER, PEP GUARDIOLA, ON STANDING 22 POINTS BEHIND LIVERPOOL, SAYING: "I think we are a good team.

I like the way we've played this season.

We cannot deny the distance (gap between City and Liverpool) is big.

22-points, we didn't expect that, honestly, at the beginning of the season.

But it's the reality.

We have to accept it.

We have to face it.

We have to learn from it.

But I like my team.

I don't have many bad opinions about our performance." STORY: Pep Guardiola poured cold water on the idea of Manchester City signing Barcelona's Lionel Messi in the close season on Friday (February 7), saying he would prefer the Argentine forward to finish his career at the Spanish club.

Messi has been linked with a move away from the Camp Nou at the end of the season after he caused a stir by criticising the club's sporting director Eric Abidal over who was responsible for the sacking of Ernesto Valverde last month.

British and Spanish media reported that Messi has a clause in his contract that allows him to walk away for free in the close season even though his contract runs until 2021, sparking speculation of his departure from the club after 16 seasons.

Guardiola also said that City forward Raheem Sterling is a doubt for the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie at Real Madrid later this month due to a hamstring injury.

Sterling was slated to miss Sunday's (February 9) Premier League home match against West Ham due to the injury but Guardiola now fears he may be out for longer and miss the trip to the Spanish capital for the match on February 26.

City winger Leroy Sane is still on the road to recovery as he stepped up his comeback from a serious knee injury that required surgery last year, but Guardiola said it would be "weeks" before he was ready to return to action.

With second-placed City now 22 points behind Liverpool, Guardiola conceded that he had not expected his side to be so far behind the runaway league leaders, but said "it's a reality".

(Production: Kurt Michael Hall)