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Manchester City star Kevin de Bruyne has spoken of the great unity in City's squad following confirmation of the 2017/18 Premier League title and is hopeful that the youthful makeup of the team will mean they are only just getting started.

A number of City players, including Vincent Kompany, Kyle Walker, John Stones and Bernardo Silva, were seen out celebrating the title triumph at a pub in the wealthy Greater Manchester suburb of Hale on Sunday afternoon, and De Bruyne believes that camaraderie has been key.

In fact, De Bruyne even admits he's never before experienced a team bond quite like City's.

"It's never happened like that before. The team just clicks, like a relationship when you find somebody and it just clicks," the Belgian playmaker is quoted as saying by the Daily Mirror. "It's very difficult to find that with a team, because you have 25 people in a squad and you need good people, not too many egos, because in football there are egos," he added.

De Bruyne how most of the squad are usually present whenever there is a team night out or other event, explaining that it is important for bonding.

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"We also have a lot of fun. We're together so much, I think we spend more time together than we do with our families, so it can't always be serious," he explained. "This team has found each other in a way that doesn't happen a lot, so I'm hoping it can stay like that."

At the age of 26, De Bruyne is one of the more experienced players in the group, with Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sane, Gabriel Jesus, Bernardo Silva, John Stones, Aymeric Laporte, Ederson, Benjamin Mendy, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Phil Foden all aged 24 or younger.

It is that youthfulness De Bruyne hopes will mean this season's success will be repeated.

"It's no coincidence the type of players brought in over the last year or two have all been of a similar age and we'll look to build as a group together," he is further quoted as saying by the Daily Mirror.


"The feeling among the squad is great. We've enjoyed the season a lot but there's work to do if we want to achieve more in the future. That can be the trickiest thing in football, to not only win but keep winning. Having such a young squad will hopefully help us to achieve that."

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Manager Pep Guardiola is obviously a key part of that, changing the way that City play since arriving in the summer of 2016. As such, De Bruyne is keen for the ex-Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss to stay for a long time and keep winning trophies now that he has his first two.

"What we want to do now is continue playing the way we have this season and become even stronger," De Bruyne is also quoted as saying by the Sun.

"The manager is a big part of that and hopefully these can be his first trophies of many here at City. Everyone knows he's one of the best coaches in the world. To achieve what he has achieved in the game is special and to be part of a group of players led by him can only help us to keep developing.

"He came in two years ago and changed the way we play. That obviously takes time to adapt to but we've developed together and this season is a reward for all that work."