That officials of the FC Bayern Munich are trying to persuade star-coach Pep Guardiola to sign a new contract with the club, since the current one lasts until the end of the season, is no secret. Now the players of the German Rekordmeister (the club won the Bundesliga title 25 times) joined the efforts to hold the coach for a longer term.

Bayern captain Philipp Lahm spoke to Guardiola on behalf of the team: "Yes, I have informed him of the desire of the team. I won't say what was said, as it was a face-to-face conversation, and should remain an internal matter. I don't know why he's hesitating. The team's position is clear, we enjoy working with our coach and we really, really want to keep working with him."

The Catalan has won 19 titles in his career as coach of Barcelona and Bayern, he has been linked to Premier League clubs Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City by reports from the UK and Italian media.