City now an established force – Hart

Joe Hart believes Premier League champions Manchester City have now established themselves as one of English football’s superpowers.

City held off the challenge of Liverpool and Chelsea to land their second title in three seasons last term, scoring an incredible 102 goals in the process.

The Etihad Stadium club won their first top-flight crown in 44 years in 2012, and have now finished in the top two for three campaigns in a row.

Sheikh Mansour’s takeover in 2008 heralded a new era at the club, with global stars such as Sergio Aguero, Yaya Toure and David Silva all being brought to Manchester since then.

And City’s haul of two Premier League titles, the FA Cup and the League Cup in the last three years is evidence enough for Hart that they are now among the country’s footballing elite.

“Doing it for a second time has established who we are and what standards we’ve got,” the Manchester Evening News quotes the goalkeeper as telling City’s end-of-season review.

Hart went on to say City’s players are already eyeing more silverware next season – after representing their countries at the FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

“You can’t help but move on – we won the league but it’s gone,” the 27-year-old added.

“The World Cup and next season are in mind now, and we want to do it again.”