Another season of great expectations for City

A wondrous Olympics has ensured that we will always have Paris but now it will also mean a club that once had Kylian Mbappe. After a fortnight of sporting extravaganza, it is time for the leagues of extraordinary footballers to take over.

First off the blocks on Thursday was La Liga. The Premier League and Ligue 1 start on Friday, Serie A on Saturday and Bundesliga the weekend after. Together, they comprise the top five of the planet's most watched and most competitive football leagues.

With 136 players in the last World Cup, 96 in Euro 2024 and 41 in the summer's Copa America, Premier League was the most represented in the last three major international competitions. For the World Cup and European championship respectively, it was the same in 2018 and 2020.

Opta Power Rankings rates Premier League on top of its list of the best 30 leagues in the world. Real Madrid's three titles since 2017-18 skews the Champions League stats but in that time, three Premier League clubs have also won it. And about this there is no doubt: Premier League is the most watched football league in the world.

Will that be in danger should Manchester City win it for a record-extending fifth time running and seventh time in eight seasons? Doesn't sport thrive on the right blend of consistency and chaos? It does, but unless City make the title race a procession like Liverpool in 2018-19 and continue that for the next three seasons, global television audience and overseas fans at stadia are unlikely to reduce.

In the end City win but it was by two points in 2023-24, five in 2022-23 and one in 2021-22 and in 2018-19.

If there is one team that hasn't tired of winning, it is City. Proof of that came again in last week's Community Shield. "When we arrive at the competition, my energy rises again," said manager Pep Guardiola ahead of his ninth season. "It's a new challenge to break our own records ... now we'll see the ambition of ourselves."

In what could be his final season, maybe even for Kevin de Bruyne, Guardiola's line of thought is similar to pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis. So sure are City of their squad that they sold Julian Alvarez and 20-year-old Savio has been their only signing so far.

Ditto Arsenal, who had the best defence in 23-24, didn't lose to City and still finished second. "I fell in love with him," said manager Mikel Arteta of 21-year-old Riccardo Calafiori. "I watched him a year ago and immediately noticed something different — an aura, a charisma, a presence that transcended skill alone."

Gunners will hope he and a possible back-up for Bukayo Saka, who played over 50 games in 23-24 for club and country, will be the last pieces of a puzzle that will end a 21-year wait for the title.

Third-placed Liverpool have a Juergen Klopp-sized hole to fill. Enter Arne Slot into a role that could feel like reprising Hamlet after Laurence Olivier. But Liverpool think Slot is the closest fit to the energetic, affable German who got the club and the city. Like Klopp, Slot, 45, demands an aggressive, especially when out of possession, and fit team. Good thing for Slot also is that players who have won with Liverpool still form the team's core.

Liverpool start away to promoted Ipswich Town, a fixture that could have Ed Sheeran at Portman Road. Back in the Premier League after 22 years, Ipswich Town's ability to retain manager Kieran McKenna even when there was interest from Chelsea and Manchester United is proof of the financial health of not just the Premier League but The Championship as well.

Along with 31-year-old Fabian Hürzeler (Brighton), McKenna, 38, will be among managers who can make Guardiola (53) and Erik ten Hag (54) feel old.

Leicester City and Southampton are the other promoted teams in the season where West Ham seem intent on making a statement by signing Jean-Clair Todibo and Niklas Füllkrug, Crystal Palace will hope Marc Guehi stays and after 132 years, Everton will leave Goodison Park.

Enzo Maresca is another addition to the list of bald managers. In the Italian, once Guardiola's apprentice like Arteta, Chelsea trust to be championship contenders again. They have a bloated squad but have still spent $127 million since last season ended. They could still need Victor Osimhen for goals.

To balance books and avoid fines that hit Everton and Nottingham Forest last term, Chelsea could sell five players, including Connor Gallagher, groomed by their academy. But they had a good second half in 23-24 and a number of young talent so why not believe?

Believe is what Manchester United finally did in Ten Hag. The club also let him sign Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui making it five players who were with Ten Hag before his Manchester United gig.

As per BBC, Manchester United suffered the most injuries, 45, in 2023-24. That Rasmus Hojlund, Luke Shaw, Lenny Yoro and Tyrell Malacia are injured doesn't bode well for the team which finished eighth, the lowest it ever has, in 23-24.

Strange though the sentence could read, Manchester United can look to for inspiration from Aston Villa. From 17th in 2019-20, they have to two top-10 finishes, the last of which fetched a return to Europe after 41 years. Armed with a new five-year deal, manager Unai Emery has signed Amadou Onana and Ian Maatsen and in Emi Martinez they have a goalkeeper who has won Copa and the World Cup. Will they be able to deal with midweek matches in Champions League? No one knows but the important thing, Emery has said, is to dream.