COUNTDOWN TO KICK-OFF 2015/16 CIT Y WATCH OUT JOSE, WE’RE COMING FOR OUR CROWN

Manuel Pellegrini and Vincent Kompany fire out a warning as pair insist Blues are ready to win back Premier League title

CITY’S summer acquisitions have their eyes set firmly on silverware.

Raheem Sterling and Fabian Delph are determined to make an immediate impact – and earn themselves some medals.

Sterling’s £44m switch from Liverpool was fraught with controversy. But the England star says he is sure he has made the right decision.

“I’m delighted to be here,” he said. “The decision was very easy as soon as I knew that City wanted me.

“With the players they’ve got here it’s an attractive place to be and I’m very happy I made that decision.

“A club like this with the players we’ve got, we should always be challenging for the title and I don’t think that’ll be any different this year.

“We’re going to do the best we can and, hopefully, get our hands on some silverware at the end of the season.”

Fellow arrival Delph said the club aim to mount a serious challenge both at home and in Europe.

The £8m signing from Aston Villa is recovering from a hamstring strain he picked up in pre- season. However, he can’t wait to pull on the sky blue shirt for the first time in a competitive game.

“I’m really looking forward for the opportunity to challenge for the title, to see if I can add something different to the team,” he said. “Also in the Champions League, it’s every boy’s dream to play in it and, hopefully, we can do well and keep pushing on.”

CITY boss Manuel Pellegrini and his players are in bullish mood as they aim to wrest the title back from Chelsea.

The Blues lost their crown in disappointing fashion last term with the Londoners coasting to victory by a margin of eight points.

But the manager says City will reclaim the prize this time round.

“I am absolutely sure we are going to have a very successful season,” he said.

“We must bring the title back here to our fans. And all together, we must win game by game to try and do it.

“It was a good preseason. The way we made the programme was with different games in different parts.

“But we have been working for about 30 days and I’m sure we will arrive on Monday in the best shape to start the season.”

Asked what he would do differently to avoid a repeat of last season’s

Vincent Kompany and Manuel Pellegrini are confident of getting their hands back on the Premier League trophy slip-ups, he replied: “We are going to work very hard.

“That’s always important, but we must do it all together – the players on the pitch, the fans in the stadium.

“We need to play the way we know how to play and continue with our attacking style to score the most amount of goals.

“And we are absolutely sure we are going to bring the title back.”

Vincent Kompany was equally buoyant, with the City skipper saying the players had learnt from last season’s mistakes and were raring to go ahead of Monday night’s opener at West Brom.

“The squad has been working really hard and you can tell we’ve improved,” he said.

“In training, the levels have increased. We’ve been doing long days, with a lot of hard sessions.

“We’re going to go to the wire and be ready for this new season. It has to be a good one for us.

“Winning the title once every two seasons isn’t so bad. But I want us to be successful for the foreseeable future.

“This club has to grow, always.

“I know all the fans have been here through the darker days, and they were fun as well.

“But the future has to be brighter.

“With this team we keep improving, with this club we keep growing and we will on the pitch.”

He also said that making the Blues’ newlyexpanded Etihad Stadium a ‘fortress’ was key to success this term.

“We’ve always had a phenomenal home record – that was even the case when City wasn’t the City of today,” he added.

“And that will be the same this season.

“We made a few slipups last season but you learn from your mistakes and we’ll be ready this time.”