Man City 2023-24 season preview: Elusive fourth Premier League title in a row will be Pep Guardiola's toughest ever task

Even though no team has done it before, only a fool would bet heavily against City winning yet another league title. They still have the strongest all-round squad in the league, with a bench as good as many team's starting XI. Just look at the fact that Julian Alvarez, the first-choice striker of World Cup winners Argentina, started only a third of their league matches last season.

In Erling Haaland they have the most prolific striker the Premier League has ever seen, supplied by one of the greatest playmakers in league history in Kevin De Bruyne. They also had the joint-best defence in the league last year, which has just been bolstered by the signing of Croatia defender Josko Gvardiol.

City are odds-on favourites to retain the title, and although they normally experience hiccups early in a campaign, they can be relied upon to click into gear at the business end of the season. Guardiola's side are also favourites to win the Champions League again, and after they steamrolled European aristocrats Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, it is difficult to disagree with the bookmakers. However, both Real and Bayern have strengthened, while Paris Saint-Germain should be contenders again under Luis Enrique despite uncertainty surrounding their biggest names.

The unpredictable nature of knockout football and the fact only one team (Real Madrid) has retained the title in the Champions League era shows how hard it is to win again, so a successive European triumph will be far from easy.

It seems unlikely that City will win the treble again though, as the FA Cup is the competition where Guardiola rotates his side most often and mishaps, such as the Carabao Cup defeat to Southampton, can always occur.

How do you follow winning the treble? By winning the quadruple, naturally. City have a deep enough squad to retain the three trophies they won last year and have an excellent record in the Carabao Cup, with four consecutive triumphs between 2018 and 2021.

The Carabao Cup, FA Cup and Champions League are all subject to plenty of jeopardy, and, as City found out in the Community Shield against Arsenal, taking your foot off the gas for just one minute can leave you without silverware.

But City have already won the treble and in 2019 completed a domestic treble. They are certainly capable of a true clean sweep, and although it would be the greatest achievement of any English side, it cannot be ruled out.

Guardiola has only had one trophy-less season in his 15 seasons as a manager, and that was his first campaign with City, when he was adapting to a new league and renovating a squad that had become jaded under Manuel Pellegrini.

Ending this season without any silverware would be a disaster and seems highly unlikely. The worst case scenario would be a failure to win one of the Champions League or Premier League title. Lifting the Carabao or FA Cup would soften the blow, but would still not mask a disappointing campaign after the incredible heights of 2022-23.

City's squad is so well rounded and at various stages of last season different individuals stepped forward and made the case for being the team's key player. Rodri played almost every game and held the team together throughout the season. And he scored the breakthrough goal in the Champions League final. John Stones reinvented himself as the 'Barnsley Beckenbauer' and became one of the first names on Guardiola's team sheet. De Bruyne contributed 31 assists and 10 goals. Jack Grealish was moulded into just the player Guardiola wanted him to be while Nathan Ake looked like one of the best defenders in the world.

But no player had the impact of Erling Haaland. The Norwegian defied expectations that he would need some time to adapt to the Premier League and ended the campaign with a record 36 goals, and from just 35 appearances. In all competitions, he scored 51 times in 52 games. He will be the player to watch again this season and he will be hungry to break his own records.

In comparison to their rivals, City have had a relatively quiet transfer window. The first new player to arrive was Mateo Kovacic from Chelsea for £25m ($31m). The Croatian appears to be a direct replacement for Gundogan, but will need to improve his record in front of goal if he is to be an adequate substitute for the Germany international.

The most exciting signing though is Josko Gvardiol, who was one of the breakout stars of the World Cup and looks to be the ideal player for Guardiola's latest vision of his team. Gvardiol, a £77m ($98m) signing from RB Leipzig and now the second-most expensive defender in football history, has outstanding technical ability as well as remarkable physical prowess.

The son of an amateur footballer, Gvardiol's power makes him so hard for opponents to get past and allows him to bulldoze downfield and launch attacks, as he frequently did during Croatia's run to the semi-finals in Qatar.

Last year Rico Lewis was City's breakout star and we can expect to see a lot more of the versatile teenager this season. But the player most likely to make the step up from the academy and into the first team is Oscar Bobb.

The Norwegian, who turned 20 last month, was one of the surprise packages of City's pre-season tour of Asia, playing in all three matches against Yokohama F Marinos, Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid. Bobb can play in midfield or out wide, and it is in the latter position that he could be most useful, particularly if City do not sign a direct replacement for Mahrez.

Bobb was a regular fixture for City's age-group sides last season, playing in all of their UEFA Youth League games and helping them reach the semi-finals of the FA Youth Cup as well as lift a third consecutive Premier League 2 title. He scored eight goals and contributed 18 assists.

Guardiola first selected Bobb in his squad for a first-team game for an FA Cup tie at Swindon Town two seasons ago, although he did not get on the pitch then. But the coach praised him after the midfielder shone in the 5-3 comeback win over Yokohama.

"Oscar made an incredible season for the second-team last year. He played unbelievable today. He can play three or four positions as well," he said.

City's worst fears in the Champions League final were realised when De Bruyne limped off with a hamstring injury. Luckily, they had a luxury substitute waiting on the bench, and Phil Foden made the most of the opportunity, playing his part in Rodri's breakthrough goal against Inter while also coming close to scoring a second himself.

But Foden will have been hugely disappointed not to have started in Istanbul, and to have only played 14 minutes of the FA Cup final against Manchester United. The England star had been one of City's most influential players at the start of the campaign and the previous season, but lost his place in the side to Grealish after the £100m ($127m) man finally found his feet.

Foden's favourite position is off the left of the attack, but now Grealish seems to have locked down that role he will need to diversify. He could play on the right of the attack or move into midfield. Guardiola loves to play his players in new positions, and Foden will have to adapt or face another season of only having a bit-part role.

Having faced criticism year-after-year for failing to lift the Champions League since he left Barcelona, Pep Guardiola finally got his hands on the coveted trophy again, reasserting his claim to be the best manager in the world.

Having got that monkey off his back, he can now target Carlo Ancelotti's record of being the only coach to have won Europe's top prize four times. Guardiola's biggest challenge, though, will be to maintain his players' hunger after winning the treble.

He must also find a way to plug the gaping holes left by the departures of Gundogan and Mahrez, who scored a combined 138 goals and provided 109 assists for City.

City are still yet to replace Mahrez. They have been linked with Brighton winger Kaoru Mitoma, who was one of the best players in the Premier League last season, while hey have also reportedly shown interest in the Belgium international Jeremy Doku of Rennes and Crystal Palace's Michael Olise.

Guardiola's side are also likely to part ways with centre-back Aymeric Laporte and full-back Joao Cancelo, who spent the latter half of the season on loan at Bayern Munich, which could lead to another new arrival in defence, even if Gvardiol's versatility could cover for both exits.

However, City look to have won the battle with Bayern Munich and Barcelona over Kyle Walker and Bernardo Silva, respectively, and the pair look set to remain at the Etihad Stadium.

Guardiola said last week that having six centre-backs was not a problem over the season, but he will face a dilemma each week picking a back three, assuming he continues to play Stones in midfield. The arrival of Gvardiol means Walker, Ake and Manuel Akanji are no longer guaranteed starters, with only Ruben Dias likely to be certain of his place each week.

It will also be interesting to see how regularly new signing Kovacic features and whether or not Foden can win back his position on the left of attack from Grealish. Cole Palmer, who barely played last season, could get his big chance in the team as a wide forward, having come off the bench and scored in the Community Shield.

(3-4-3): Ederson; Josko Gvardiol, Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake; Bernardo Silva, John Stones, Rodri, Mateo Kovacic; Kevin De Bruyne, Erling Haaland, Jack Grealish

History has a habit of repeating itself and there is a reason why no English team has won four titles in a row. City are a formidable team but all winning cycles must come to an end one day and it will be so tough for Guardiola's side to win the title again.

They have lost two key players in Gundogan and Mahrez, who so often gave them the edge in tight matches. And their rivals are on the rise. Arsenal will be extra determined to pip City to the title and will have valuable experience when it comes to the run-in. They have also shown they mean business after breaking the bank to sign Declan Rice (ahead of City) as well as Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber.

Manchester United will also be stronger in their second campaign under Erik ten Hag, while Chelsea and Liverpool will surely have better seasons than last year. The title, therefore, will be a bridge too far for City.

City will ultimately fail to win the title and are likely to finish second behind Arsenal. Haaland will be their top scorer again but he will fall short of his epic first campaign as teams will be wiser when facing him.

But it will still be a campaign to remember as City will win the Champions League again. They have now finally hurdled the barrier to European success and still look like the strongest team in Europe, with a manager who relishes the big occasions and can come up with the perfect tactical plan.

With a maximum of two years left at City, time is of the essence for Guardiola and he will prioritise winning another Champions League title over more Premier League success.