Guardiola insisted on luxury living in Man city centre before becoming manager

Manchester City were almost not able to tie down Pep Guardiola as their new manager after he insisted on living inside the city centre, a book said.

Many of the club's players are understood to prefer to live outside of the hustle and bustle, as they typically live in leafy mansions in Cheshire instead.

But Guardiola was said to be keen to base himself directly in the heart of the action, a stance which led to City chiefs sweating while they tried to find him a property.

The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich tactician agreed to take over from Manuel Pellegrini at the Etihad in February 2016, and set about looking for a new home.

However, the book, Pep's City: The Making of a Superteam - written by Pol Ballus and Lu Martin - revealed that the club were worried he would go back on his word.

Indeed, part of the novel recounts how director of football Txiki Begirisain told David Quintana, the player liaison manager, to hold talks with Guardiola in Munich.

Ballus and Martin wrote: 'In Munich, the Guardiola family had lived in a spacious mansion on Sophienstrasse.

'Pep demanded accommodation of a similar standard in Manchester and the issue was in danger of becoming a deal-breaker.

'Quintana and Pep met over a leisurely three-hour lunch in a local Vietnamese restaurant.

'Lunch was spent discussing key elements of the club's organisation, infrastructure, players, but the issues around the Guardiolas' new home remained unsolved.

'The problem was that Pep was refusing to live anywhere but the city centre and there just wasn't the right property there to suit him.

'It didn't exist. Begiristain could see all his plans going up in smoke. The deal to bring Pep to City was under threat.'

However, the situation was resolved with City promising to 'build' Guardiola the property he wanted, although the family moved into a luxury apartment.

His current home is located in the Deansgate CitySuites in central Manchester.

The building is 16 storeys high and holds 237 one and two-bedroom apartments, all of which comes with their own well-fitted kitchens and a large living room area.

Two floors are take up by privately-owned apartments, and it is here that Guardiola is understood to spend some of his free time away from the touchline.