It's official: Manchester City are the Premier League champions.

Let's be honest, though, the writing has been on the wall for sometime. The title race has been something of a foregone conclusion ever since City's dramatic victory at Old Trafford in December when the visitors pulled out an unassailable lead.

Despite missing out on becoming the earliest champions in history during the reverse fixture with Manchester United, their bitter rivals' defeat to West Brom ensured they didn't have much longer to wait.

The question now for Pep Guardiola and his players is whether they can do it all over again.

Gary Neville made a very important point about that very fact in reference to comparisons being made between City and great United, Arsenal and Chelsea teams of old.

Can Man City retain their title?

He noted on Monday Night Football: “We're talking about one of the greatest ever Premier League single season performances. They are not one of the greatest Premier League teams. Guardiola would never say one title is the measurement of greatness."

Retaining the title certainly won't be an easy task.

The Premier League hasn't been won back-to-back since 2007-08 and 2008-09, not to mention that a reigning champion hasn't finished in the top three since 2013.

Man City targeting two big names

And perhaps the best advice Guardiola could be given was best phrased by Alan Hansen who, during his notorious 'you can't win anything with kids' speech, stated: 'the trick is, to buy while you're strong.'

It's a suggestion that City seem to agree with, too, as Sky sources reported on Tuesday that the champions are already eyeing some major summer targets.

The Guardiola era at the Etihad Stadium has been punctuated with heavy spending and it seems their latest achievement may have inspired another bout of spending.

According to Sky Sports, the two men on Guardiola's hit-list are Kylian Mbappe and Thiago Alcantara.

Scary, right?

Just in case City's midfield and attack weren't stacked with enough talent already, Guardiola could be leading a £200 million raid for two of European football's most exciting players.

The champions are closely monitoring UEFA's investigation into Paris Saint-Germain's Financial Fair Play situation and are ready to pounce if the French side are forced to sell Mbappe.

As for Thiago, the passage should be even clearer for Guardiola considering the pair worked together at both Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

Manchester United have been linked to heavy spending themselves over the summer but it seems City will shadow them every step of the way.

Who do you think will win the league next season? Have your say in the comments section below.