MANCHESTER, England -- Leroy Sane has said it will be harder for Manchester City to win the Premier League next season.
Pep Guardiola's side receive the trophy after their game against Huddersfield Town at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday after clinching the title with five games remaining.
But Sane, 22, warned that their rivals will be desperate to beat them next season, with closest rivals Manchester United and Liverpool desperate to close the gap.
"It means everything to me -- I'm very happy that we won the league and won the trophy," the Germany international told ESPN FC.
"They are strong teams, both of them. It will be much difficult. We are now the champions, and everyone wants to win against the champions. That's why it will be much more difficult to win the title next year.
"Every player is still trying to play good. We want to end the season really well and have confidence and be in shape for the World Cup.
"We said when we won the league we want to set new targets, to break records, to still be focused on the games. We can't take a step back, although we know we have won it already.
"We still want to win, we still want to improve and chase our targets."
A win over Huddersfield would see City set a Premier League record for the most victories and most points, while two goals would break the record of 103 in a season.
City's incredible start left some pundits speculating that they could win a Quadruple and go the whole season unbeaten, but Sane said that was always unlikely.
"I think everyone can see we played a really good season," he added. "Yes [it's possible] but it's really hard and difficult to achieve it, to win every game in this league, because this league is really hard.
"The other teams are really strong and anything can happen."
The one big disappointment of City's season was their Champions League quarterfinal exit to Liverpool, but Sane said they could learn from it.
"Of course we were all upset," he said. "I think there's a lot of things we can change. Of course we can improve, but we still have to believe that we can do it.
"We have enough talent and quality to do it. We're going to see what happens next season."
Sane capped a remarkable season by winning the PFA Young Player of the Year Award as well as being shortlisted for the main Player of the Year Award.
Guardiola has challenged him, as well as fellow forwards Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus, to get even better, and the winger said there was more to come.
"It means a lot to me [to win the award]," he said. "Right now I feel like I want to improve in myself. I want to be there with the team and achieve things with the team, win things with the team.
"I'm really happy that we won the trophy with a lot of young talented players who, all season, played good for their team.
"I can still improve in the basic stuff -- my first touch, my position in the team. There are a lot of things where I can improve."