Manchester City went without a trophy last season as Pep Guardiola's side were hit by injuries and a run of inconsistent form but the Etihad boss will want to put things right this season
Michael Ham
17:15, 15 Jun 2025
Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola will want to make amends this season(Image: Alex Davidson, Getty Images)
The pressure is on Pep Guardiola to deliver silverware for Manchester City once again next season – but it’s pressure all of his own making.
Former City striker Paul Dickov believes his former side have all the talents to regain their place as champions of England, especially with their moves in the transfer market in January and before the start of the Club World Cup.
Guardiola brought in Abdukodir Khusanov and Omar Marmoush for a combined £92.6million in January and bolstered his squad before this summer’s event in the USA by signing Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolves and Lyon’s Rayan Cherki for another total of £61.5m, plus AC Milan midfielder Tijjani Reijnders for £46.5m.
Those signings, plus Guardiola’s desire to be the best will see City claim the Premier League title back from Liverpool, according to Dickov, but the pressure to do so will be massive.
He said: “I think that the pressure that’s on Pep is the pressure he puts on himself. He’s a perfectionist. If you look at last season and how it went, I don’t think anyone would have anticipated that we’d end up without a trophy.
Rayan Ait-Nouri holds up a Manchester City shirt
Rayan Ait-Nouri has signed for Manchester City from Wolves(Image: Manchester City FC)
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“At the same time, I don’t think it’s possible to keep that run going after the Treble and then winning four leagues in a row. The pressure, despite that, is still on them to win something. Nobody puts more pressure on the club or the players to be successful than Pep himself.
"He’ll be desperate to put things right and I’m pretty confident that he will – I don’t think there will be too many trophyless seasons with Pep at the helm for Manchester City.”
And while Dickov is backing his former side to claim English football’s top prize once more, he says they will have their work cut out for them to do so.
Speaking to BestBettingSites.com, he added: “Liverpool look as if they’re strengthening. They’re making signings already. But for me, I can’t see Man City having as bad a season as they did last season.
“From the start of the year to the end of the season Man City would have finished top, and that was them having a bad end to the season by their standards. They added players in January, they’re adding players now. They’ll have players back from injury. Rodri coming back is absolutely huge. They will want John Stones, Nathan Ake, Manuel Akanji back and fit.
“With all that, I think Man City are going to be really hard to beat next season. But I do expect next season to be the hardest Premier League in a long time for anybody to win.
Rodri of Manchester City controls the ball whilst under pressure from Tyler Adams of Bournemouth
Rodri returned from injury at the end of the season(Image: Getty Images)
“Manchester United already have made a couple of signings. Chelsea are going to get better with the young team that they’ve got. Arsenal are making signings. Newcastle and Aston Villa are going to be in there and around it again. It’s going to be so tough to win it next year.
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“But I just think the quality that City are going to have in the squad, not just the starting XI, the strength and depth and the quality and depth that they’ve got, they’re the favourites for me.”
● You can read the full Paul Dickov interview here.