Manchester City chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak, whose club are 11/8 with bookmaker to retain their title, expects the Premier League champions to be relatively quiet in the transfer market this summer.
The Citizens have spent heavily over the last three years to try and move into English football’s elite and the investment paid off at the weekend as they were crowned champions thanks to a last-gasp 3-2 win at home to QPR.
City chairman Al-Mubarak said: “We have a championship-winning team. We are not starting from the same point as in other pre-seasons.
“We have had to improve in a very dramatic manner, now we have a nucleus. To improve further we have to harness that nucleus.”
Despite the City supremo appearing to rule out too many deals, the newly-crowned champions are favourites to land highly-rated Belgian forward Eden Hazard from Lille.
Meanwhile, Manchester United chief executive David Gill says that the Old Trafford club have funds available to strengthen their squad as they bid to keep up with their neighbourhood rivals.