Pep Guardiola future: Manchester United deny meeting outgoing Bayern Munich manager over replacing Louis van Gaal

Reports in France claimed that Guardiola met with United officials in the French capital last month to discuss replacing Louis van Gaal

Pep Guardiola was reported to have met with Manchester United last week (Getty Images)

Manchester United have rejected claims that they met with Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola last week in Paris to discuss the possibility of him replacing Louis van Gaal at the end of the season.

Reports in France claimed that the club’s officials travelled to the French capital to meet with Guardiola, who will leave Bayern in the summer after rejecting a contract extension with the reigning Bundesliga champions. It’s widely expected that Guardiola will move to the Premier League, with United, Manchester City and Chelsea all believed to be interested in his services.

France Football claim that 45-year-old met with United officials in Paris last week to discuss a move to Old Trafford, but the club have informed the BBC that this is not true and that no such meeting has taken place.

City are currently favourites to land Guardiola should they decide to replace current manager Manuel Pellegrini, with the club’s technical director Txiki Begiristain and chief executive Ferran Soriano both working with Guardiola during their time at Barcelona.

However, United’s form this season as well as their dull style of football has been cause for concern for United’s hierarchy, and it was reported last week that should the club look on course to miss out on a top-four finish, executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward and owners the Glazer family who act to dismiss Van Gaal.

Former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is in the running to replace Van Gaal should he leave the club in the summer, though Guardiola would also be an appetising option given his success with both Bayern and Barcelona – where he won two Champions League titles by defeating United in the 2009 and 2011 finals.

Guardiola has already spoken of his desire to manage in England and says he has several offers on the table to move to England, though he has also apologised for speaking publicly about his future after it put the likes of Van Gaal and Pellegrini under pressure.

"It was not my intention to offend anybody," Guardiola said in press conference towards the end of 2015. "Normally in my career as a trainer and as a player, I respect my colleagues a lot."

Bayern will return to Bundesliga action this weekend having embarked on a training camp in Doha over the winter break, and they take on Hamburg later tonight with an eight-point gap to second-place Borussia Dortmund.