Former Manchester City and England goalkeeper Joe Hart has shared his thoughts on the biggest questions facing the Premier League this season — from Enzo Maresca's challenge at Manchester City to Xabi Alonso's arrival at Chelsea and Arsenal's attempt to defend their first title in two decades.

Manchester City's rebuilding phase

With Pep Guardiola stepping away after a trophy-laden tenure, new Manchester City boss Enzo Maresca inherits a club in transition. The club briefly broke the English transfer record by signing midfielder Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest for £116 million, yet faces the likely departure of Rodri to Barcelona. Morocco's 18-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi is in discussions to arrive from Lille for £85.6 million, and the club retains an interest in Chelsea's Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez. Sunday's 3-0 Community Shield defeat to Arsenal in Cardiff only added to the sense of uncertainty.

Hart, who won two Premier League titles during his time at Manchester City, believes the club is approaching this campaign with realistic expectations. "I think the club isn't heaping massive expectation on this season," he said on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club. "I still feel they'll want to be pushing on all fronts. But the same sort of pressure, as an organisation, I don't think will be on this season."

He added that Maresca would feel the heat from outside the club more than from within. "Externally, there's always going to be the noise. Maresca will come immediately under fire in terms of how people want to jump all over Man City if they do struggle. Internally, I think they're intelligent enough as a business to understand that what's going on right now is going to be difficult."

Arsenal and the burden of being champions

Having won four consecutive Premier League titles between 2020-21 and 2023-24, Manchester City fell short in each of the last two seasons. Hart believes Arsenal — now defending their title — are about to experience the same pressures Guardiola's side once navigated so masterfully.

Reflecting on his own title-winning seasons at Manchester City in 2011-12 and 2013-14, neither of which the club successfully defended, Hart drew a candid parallel. "I was walking on water at that time. I actually thought I was 'that guy'," he said. "And football finds a way, really quickly, of showing you that you're not. When things started to unravel — which they will in any season — they seemed to really unravel because all of a sudden you're under that kind of champion scrutiny."

He praised Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, but stressed that handling adversity early in the season would be the defining challenge. "It's really important how Arsenal are going to handle that. Mikel Arteta has done a brilliant job and he makes really big, bold decisions. It's about how you handle that first hurt. It's ironic that getting to the top is the easy thing — it really is."

Chelsea's chance without Europe

Chelsea endured a difficult Premier League campaign last season, finishing 10th and missing out on European football for only the third time this century. Yet Hart sees the absence from continental competition as a potential advantage for incoming manager Xabi Alonso.

Hart recalled how Antonio Conte exploited a similar situation in 2016-17, when Chelsea — also without European football — stormed to the title. "I do remember Gary Cahill talking about Conte coming in to a Premier League team like Chelsea who weren't in Europe," Hart said. "He said they were so well drilled, he was so intense in what they needed. They almost had NFL playbooks — and it allowed them the time to build into the season."

Hart sees the same potential for Xabi Alonso's Chelsea. "That's a massive advantage for someone like Xabi Alonso, who's obviously got his way of playing. Their ceiling is, of course, to be in amongst it — and they've got a really great opportunity," he concluded.