"This is a different feel this year. The fact that we’re champions isn’t the biggest feeling, it’s just that we’re more settled and going into the first game there’s a different outlook.

“We’ve been able to meticulously plan pre-season, meaning that every session and game has had certain conditions around it without having competitive fixtures as a backdrop, which gives you certainty about what you do.

“But it’s about how you use that time and prepare your players for what’s ahead, and I feel we’ve had a strong pre-season from the point of view that we’ve got all the work done.

'Our games have been competitive and the performances in those have shown good progress, but that becomes irrelevant when the real stuff starts.'

“The start of the season gives us a clearer understanding of the work we’ve done in preparing the team and the players we’ve brought in and how they fit into the project.”

While there is a more settled look and feel, a number of additions have come into the side to bolster and improve the overall squad.

The likes of Aaron Mooy, Benjamin Siegrist, Alexandro Bernabei, and Moritz Jenz have all joined, alongside permanent deals for Cameron Carter-Vickers and Jota, and the manager is delighted with the work done so far.

He added: “We’re happy with the ones we’ve brought in. There were some areas I wanted to strengthen to make us a bit more robust, so we have more options through there now.

“Signing Jota and Carter-Vickers on permanent deals was an important part of what we’re trying to build.

“I’m pleased with what we’ve done. There’s still time left in the window and we will stay active and agile to see if we can strengthen in areas.

'From my perspective, we’ve done the crucial bits we wanted to do and if there are areas we can improve on then we will.'

“They new guys have slotted in well. We made sure we knew what we were getting in terms of character and personality and we were pretty confident with how they would fit in.

“They will all take a different amount of time to grasp our football and training, but from an initial introduction of being a footballer at this club, they’ve enjoyed the experience and fitted in without too many problems.”

Manager: Being champions doesn't change our outlook for the new season