Bernardo Silva has issued a title warning to Liverpool whilst revealing why he infamously declined to applaud the Reds during a guard of honour.
The Portuguese midfielder, who has been named as Manchester City's new captain, has secured six Premier League crowns since his arrival at the Etihad in 2017.
However, last term represented the second occasion he has fallen short of claiming the English top-flight trophy as Pep Guardiola's squad finished third - 13 points adrift of Arne Slot's outfit.
Silva acknowledges the City players experienced remorse throughout their underwhelming season, confessing they surrendered too readily.
Yet the 31-year-old has witnessed sufficient evidence this summer to feel assured that Guardiola's troops can mount another title bid this campaign.
"There's a lot of guilt among the players, in the manager, in everyone for not doing better last season," Silva admitted.
"A team with our experience, with our quality, even with [the injuries we had], we cannot go down as easily as we did.
"We should have done better to overcome this situation. About competing for the title, we didn't even give it a try.
"I think emotional-wise we're definitely back. In terms of being hungry again, we're back. This is all very beautiful, but at the end of the day the quality on the pitch will make a difference and show if we're prepared to perform or not."
Silva had previously been denied the Premier League championship with City during the 2019/20 campaign as they concluded second - 18 points behind victorious Liverpool. Jurgen Klopp's team secured the championship with seven matches remaining that campaign, with their visit to Man City marking their debut outing as title winners.
Whilst Guardiola's players provided the Reds with the traditional guard of honour, Silva notoriously declined to applaud the Liverpool squad.
The Portuguese midfielder has now confessed he struggles with defeat as he clarified his contentious choice to ignore Klopp's team.
"I'm a bad loser, yeah," Silva told The Times. "I hate losing. I played 12 years at Benfica and they taught us not to be happy if you lose.
"In my opinion, it's kind of a hypocrisy [the guard of honour]. It's not a tradition we have in Portugal.
"If they want to do it, they can do it, but I wasn't going to clap Liverpool because that's not how I celebrate defeat.
"When I win a title, I don't need anyone else to clap for me."