City were a distant 23 points behind runaway champions Liverpool last season, and though Guardiola has seen his squad bolstered by new signings, he does not expect a turnaround to be easy ...

The Reds have taken the opportunity of the summer transfer window to invest heavily in their squad, with the likes of Hugo Ekitike (£79m), Florian Wirtz (£116m) and Milos Kerkez (£40m) joining so far.