Pep Guardiola confident Manchester City can close the gap on Chelsea and Tottenham next season

Guardiola failed to take the league by storm on his debut but has issued a word of warning to his rivals ahead of next season

Pep Guardiola guided City to a third-place finish in his debut season (Getty)

Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City have what it takes to close the gap on Chelsea and Tottenham next season after guiding theCitizens to a third-place finish in his debut campaign in England.

The Catalan took over from Manuel Pellegrini last summer and was tipped for immediate success with City.

However, despite making a convincing start to the league City went on to struggle for consistency and ended the season 15 points behind champions Chelsea and without any major silverware to their name.

But after a year of transition, Guardiola insists he will be ready to mount a title challenge with his City side for the 2017/18 season.

Although the Spaniard admitted that the Premier League is difficult to win, he was confident City would close the gap on Chelsea and Tottenham.

"Always the leagues are complicated to win,” he said.

"But of course we are going to close the gap between especially Chelsea and Tottenham, trying to be close for the next season."

When asked what the biggest adjustment he had to make after arriving in England was, Guardiola said: "It's not too much, the principles are the same so the way you want to play is the same, so of course I adjust.

"When I adjust it's because of the quality of the players not because here the Premier League is different from the other ones. But the fundamental principles are the same."

City and Guardiola have started the summer with purpose having already signed Bernado Silva from AS Monaco for £43m.


 Bernardo Silva was City's first signing of the summer 
 (Getty)

The club are also poised to land goalkeeper Ederson, with third-party matters currently holding the deal up.

Guardiola has already begun his squad overhaul, too. Veterans Jesus Navas, Bacary Sagna, Gael Clichy and Willy Caballero have all left the club as the Spaniard sets about fashioning his new team.