City boss Manuel Pellegrini says he won’t be sacked

Manuel Pellegrini has denied reports his time as Manchester City boss is coming to an end.

Pellegrini has come under fire in the past week following losses to Barcelona and Liverpool that have damaged City’s Champions League and Premier League ambitions.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of Wednesday’s game with Leicester, the he said: “I never have any pressure to win an amount of titles and to win a title every year if I want to continue here.

“I don’t feel any pressure, especially from the media. I feel pressure only when I don’t see my team playing the way I want to do it.”

Prior to Pellegrini’s appointment, chief executive Ferran Soriano said City’s ambitions were to win five trophies in five seasons.

Pellegrini won two in his first season but insists he has not been told of any minimum requirement per year.

He said: “When I signed the contract, I was never told I must win a title every year or that I must win five trophies in five years.

“That was a sentence of Ferran. That is perfectly normal. But maybe you can win two in one year and one in another, the other another two.

“You never know in football. There are different ways to analyse the season. The title is important but it is not the only important thing.”

Of his future amid rumours that Pep Guardiola, Diego Simeone and Carlo Ancelotti lead a list of potential replacements, he added: “I only think about the present. You never know what will happen in the future.

“You don’t know if we are going to win against Barcelona or be out of the Champions League. Maybe last year nobody would say we were going to win the Premier League.

“To think about the future is the worst thing because you are just speculating about a lot of things. It is important to live life in the present.

“I have 25 years experience of management at important clubs and I never feel the pressure.”