Pep Guardiola makes 'impossible' Manchester City treble claim and ...

WHAT HAPPENED? The Sky Blues had a historic 2022-23 season as they went on to lift the Premier League, FA Cup and the Champions League to become the first side since Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United in 1999 to win the treble. The Spanish manager believes achieving the same feat will be incredibly challenging despite being bolstered by the arrival of Josko Gvardiol and Mateo Kovacic.

WHAT THEY SAID: "It is once in a lifetime. It will not be possible to do what we did last season," he told reporters.

"We climbed the highest mountain last season, but in the last two days we came down from it and now we start again. Everyone has the same intention and there will be a lot of difficulties to climb the mountain as high as possible. Our football, our level, our mentality will dictate how the season will be," he added.

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Guardiola was surprised to learn that Tottenham have agreed to sell Harry Kane to Bayern Munich,  for a figure of over €100 million (£86m/$110m), as the manager failed in his bid to bring the England international to the Etihad a few years back despite leaving no stone unturned.

When asked about his opinion on the move, Guardiola did hide his astonishment: "Is that [correct]? Officially?"

After a brief pause, he added: "Everybody knows [what qualities he brings to the table]. Just take a look at him and how good he is. He has great attributes and is a top, top striker. Right, left, header, dropping, quality to play assists, score goals arriving. An exceptional striker that has shown it for many, many years. Just Alan Shearer is ahead of him as the Premier League's top goalscorer, exceptional player."

IN TWO PHOTOS:

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WHAT NEXT? Man City will begin their quest to defend all three titles in the 2023-24 season with a clash against Burnley in the Premier League on Friday.