MANCHESTER: After an offseason of heavy spending, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is to set about trimming his squad and one player whose future could be in doubt is goalkeeper Joe Hart.

Guardiola was asked Friday how central Hart was to City and the England international was hardly given a ringing endorsement.

"I'm so happy about his qualities, his behavior, what he means to this club," Guardiola said. "After, we are going to decide inside the doors (of the club). Now, he is a player of us."

City has been linked with a move for goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who plays for Guardiola's former club Barcelona and is more comfortable than Hart with the ball at his feet. It's a quality that Guardiola likes in a goalkeeper, so attacks can be built from the back.

City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak visited the club this week, and chatted to the new players during training. He will be at Etihad Stadium for the Sunderland game, which begins possibly the most exciting era in City's history.

City is the favorite to win the Premier League title, but Guardiola doesn't expect the team to be at its best immediately.

"To create something, we need time, to create something with ideas to attack we need time," he said. "But to play with soul and something inside, we don't need time.

"Tomorrow we don't know if everyone is going to play good or if we will get the result, but I will not accept not playing with soul. We can do that from the first day."