A NEW EXPERIENCE

The Manchester city defender Gael Clichy has said that it is definitely a new experience for him to be part of title winning team that looks to defend the title. Even though Gael Clichy spent many seasons at Arsenal, he was not a first-team regular in a team that had won the title.

Manchester city won the Premier league title last season in Gael Clichy's first season with the club after coming on as a £ 15 million signing from Arsenal. The French defender has said that it is definitely offers great pressure on him, but it is pressure that he enjoys at the moment.

Manchester United have already sent out a strong warning to Manchester City that they will be focusing mainly on reclaiming the title, while Chelsea have already spent more than £ 50 million in rejuvenating their squad. The arrivals of Eden Hazard and Oscar are expected to strengthen the team tremendously. As a result, the former Arsenal defender has said that he is not expecting any easy matches in the league and that defending the title would be extremely tough. Yet, he is sort of enjoying the pressure because it is new to him.

"I think it's good to have the pressure. It's always good to be at the top but we have to forget about what we did last year. That's because it's going to be a new season with new players and new teams and we will have to fight until the end like we did last season, but we can do it," said the defender while on the pre-season tour of Asia. Manchester City recently defeated Arsenal 2-0 in a pre-season friendly. The club will be facing newly promoted Southampton in the opening match of the weekend. The match will take place on August 18.