Premier League preview No7: Manchester City

Guardian writers' predicted position: 1st (NB: this is not necessarily Kevin McCarra's prediction, but the average of our writers' tips)

Last season's position: 1st

Odds to win the league: 6-5

Manchester City are the Premier League champions, yet there must still be restlessness. Only imperious domination can begin to justify the sums expended on the club. For all the means at their disposal there was a sense of growing pains about City even as they moved towards the title. They were, for instance, 3-1 down to Sunderland on 31 March before scoring two goals in the closing minutes.

The club became champions of England for the first time since 1968, but did so in a fashion that preserved a tradition of idiosyncrasy.

With victory essential on the final day, they were still 2-1 behind in the 90th minute despite the fact that Queens Park Rangers had been reduced to 10 men since the red card for Joey Barton early in the second half.

Triumph was all the more intoxicating when goals from Edin Dzeko and Sergio Agüero left Manchester United, for once, as victims rather than masters of melodrama. That afternoon will be treasured forever by the club, but the events also included skittishness. While that trait was endearing then, the task for City now is to become remorseless. It is not a quality that has come easily to Roberto Mancini's squad.

After being eliminated from the Champions League, they were removed from the Europa League by Sporting Lisbon. In that tie, City conceded two goals at the Etihad. The captain, Vincent Kompany, was missing through injury then and the defence is highly dependent on a centre-half who has been with the club since 2008, a year that also saw the advent of Sheikh Mansour as City's owner.

Given that worrisome reliance on Kompany, it was not surprising this summer to see City linked with defenders such as Liverpool's Daniel Agger as they attempt to assemble a more daunting back four. All the same, the days when City were ready to meet any price in the transfer market are drawing to a close. The financial fair play rules ought to have an impact in the near future, but the proprietor of a club would wish to have a sustainable business sooner or later in any case.

There would be scope for improvement even if the existing staff was unaltered. Apparent wrangling within the club about the possibility of buying another forward such as Robin van Persie verged on the ludicrous when Agüero, Dzeko, Mario Balotelli and Carlos Tevez are on the books and someone such as Emmanuel Adebayor has been out on loan first to Real Madrid and then Tottenham Hotspur.

It would still be rash indeed to dismiss interest from Mancini in an attacker of Van Persie's calibre, but the broader priority for City now is to be seen as a formidable, well-integrated unit. That eluded them in the Champions League, where they came third in the group phase. It would be a mistake, all the same, to view the squad as mercenaries whose true allegiance is to the pay cheque.

There had, for instance, to be admiration of the persistence as well as the sheer composure shown by Agüero in his winner against QPR. We now wait to see if there is a legacy from that goal in the assurance of the club in its entirety. There was no immediate splurge this summer and it will be interesting to see if further development for the squad can come from the collective experience of beating United to the title.

The improvement has already been considerable since taking the 2011 FA Cup. In that season City came third in the League with 71 points, having scored 60 goals and conceded 33. On their way to the 2012 title they amassed 93 goals and lost 29. It will be interesting to see what such an achievement does for individuals. England would be relieved if the status attained at City helps some players register to a greater degree at international level.

You wonder, for instance, what the effect may be on Adam Johnson. He can hint now and then at becoming a combination of winger and playmaker, yet he is still exasperating at the age of 25.

If he could be counted on Johnson would be a noteworthy asset for England in particular. Where City are concerned, however, there will still be doubts as to whether he will be a long-term contributor to a club with many alternatives in an outlandishly bloated squad.

It could be that Johnson will find it hard even to get onto the pitch as often as a substitute as has been the case. Roy Hodgson did no more that put him on the list of five standby players when the 23-man England squad was announced for Euro 2012. He had been granted just five minutes from the bench in the pre-tournament friendly with Norway. Johnson could face an even more rigorous challenge at the Etihad.

There will be doubt as to whether he can make himself essential to City's plans, but the challenge is stiffer still for clubs hoping to prise the title from Mancini.