De Bruyne’s keen to keep winning with Guardiola

KEVIN De Bruyne (right) hopes to win many more titles with Manchester City and Pep Guardiola.

De Bruyne has been one of the standout players in City’s superb Premier League campaign, but Guardiola, their i nspirational manager, was the mastermind.

City were confirmed as champions, with a record-equalling five games to spare, after Manchester United were beaten by West Brom on Sunday.

The club’s top priority this summer will undoubtedly be securing the services of Guardiola, who also oversaw a Carabao Cup win in February, for longer than the one year remaining on his contract.

De Bruyne said: “Everyone knows he’s one of the best coaches in the world. To achieve what he has achieved in the game is special and to be part of a group of players led by him can only help us to keep developing.

“He came in two years ago and changed the way we play. That, obviously, takes time to adapt to but we’ve developed together and this season is a reward for all that work.

“What we want to do now is continue playing the way we have this season and become even stronger. He’s a big part of that and, hopefully, these can be his first trophies of many here at City.”

De Bruyne believes the current squad is well placed to build on this season’s achievements.

The Belgium playmaker said: “It’s no coincidence that the type of players brought in over the last year or two have all been of a similar age and we will look to build as a group together. The feeling amongst the squad is great.

“We have enjoyed the season a lot, but there is work to do if we want to achieve more in future. That can be the trickiest thing in football, to not only win, but keep winning. Having such a young squad will, hopefully, help us to achieve that.”

Midfielder Ilkay Gundogan also believes the foundations are in place for sustained success.

The Germany international, who had been back in his homeland watching former club Borussia Dortmund play Schalke when he learned he was a Premier League winner, said: “Although some of our players have won it before, it’s our first title as a group of players under the new manager.

“We have developed together and there is a lot of potential. What we all have to do now is to work hard and believe in our ability to keep succeeding.”

City’s top scorer Sergio Aguero, one of the City squad to have won previous titles, was pleased there were no final-day dramas this year.

Aguero famously scored the injury-time winner against QPR in the last game of the season in 2012 to secure the crown, while his 2014 triumph was also only sealed on the final day.

The Argentina striker, scorer of 30 goals this season, said: “This is my third title with City and it’s just a relief not to have to wait until the final day this time.”