Brighton 1-4 Manchester City: 5 Talking Points

#1 City retain their crown, but what about their long-term future?

Walker, Gundogan, Mahrez and D. Silva celebrate Ilkay's free-kick strike as they clinched the title

City win again. Back-to-back champions. Guardiola and his side have broken records in the process, while on a personal level he becomes the first manager ever to win and retain domestic trophies in three of Europe's top five leagues.

However, don't let stats deceive you. Despite their goals and success, Manchester City are hungry for more. Liverpool ran them close and too will be motivated by their shortcomings to return stronger in 2019-20, but it's time to focus specifically on a few players.

Mahrez and Gundogan, who scored the visitors' third and fourth goals on their title-clinching afternoon, were disappointing in this one. Frustrating in possession, delayed decision-making and sloppy play at times saw them needlessly invite opposition pressure.

That's not to say they didn't improve as the match wore on, because they did. But don't be fooled by highlights nor the scoresheet. Whether it was being dispossessed in key areas, picking the wrong pass or taking too many touches (Gundogan had 191!), it was frustrating to watch in the first-half.

Mahrez has been a source of constant frustration for City fans this season, drifting in-and-out of games and despite his 12 goals and 12 assists (all competitions), he's thus far failed to live up to his £60m transfer fee. However, look at Bernardo Silva: he was struggling for regular minutes last term and has proven an integral piece in Guardiola's jigsaw twelve months on.

Given the competition for places, you look at Leroy Sane - already better and five years younger than Mahrez - he didn't even come off the substitutes' bench here! It highlights their strength in depth and yet there are burning questions that need answers for their long-term future, if they're to build a proper dynasty rolling under Guardiola and dominate Europe, not just England, going forward.

Gundogan has been honest about his future and doesn't know what's next, though with twelve months left to run on the German's existing deal, he and the club need to swiftly agree an extension. Otherwise, it's beneficial they let him go this summer while they can still warrant a fee, rather than let him leave on a free transfer next July. He's been in England for three years and despite fitness issues, this campaign has been his best: closer to the levels he promised from his tenure at Borussia Dortmund.

Gundogan and Mahrez are both 28, while Kyle Walker turns 29 in a fortnight, David Silva (33) and Fernandinho (34) will not be around forever. It's imperative the building blocks for the future are set in motion now.

Ultimately, CIty have retained their title with 98 points and done so without their best player in Kevin de Bruyne for large periods this season. Their Champions League defeat, at the hands of Tottenham no less, is certainly a bitter pill to swallow but it'll spur them on to do better next term and finally silence those lurking critics for their European shortcomings. It'll be interesting to see how it all unfolds but there's no reason why City's dynasty hasn't just begun.