Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola can see Lionel Messi playing with Barcelona into his 40s.

Guardiola said on Saturday on a program celebrating 40 years of Catalan football on LaTdP that he hopes “Lionel Messi retires when he is 40."

The former Barcelona manager (2008-2012) also played down his role on the club's recent success - he won 14 of a possible 19 titles.

“The only thing I did was to transmit the learnings of [Johan] Cruyff and [Carles] Rexach to the new generations," he said.

On Barca, Guardiola hopes things will continue that way “after Luis Enrique, when other ex-players, like Xavi or [Sergio] Busquets take over the team… And I hope Leo retires when he is 40."