Having won four titles in a row from 2020-21 to 23-24, City have fallen just short in the past two seasons, and Hart believes Arsenal’s players are about to find out how difficult it is to stay at the top like Guardiola’s teams did earlier in the decade.
Recalling his two titles with City in 11-12 and 13-14, neither of which were defended successfully, Hart said: “I was walking on water at that time. I actually thought I was ‘that guy’.
“And football finds a way, really quickly, of showing you that you’re not. And 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.
“And it’s really important how Arsenal are going to handle that, but Mikel Arteta has done a brilliant job, and he makes really big decisions and bold decisions. And it’s about how you handle that first hurt. It’s ironic that getting to the top is the easy thing, it really is.”