Kevin De Bruyne has challenged his Manchester City team-mates to take “the next step” and enjoy success in Europe after securing the club's first domestic title of the Pep Guardiola era.

De Bruyne, City’s outstanding player in an outstanding campaign, admitted on Monday that few at the Etihad expected to be confirmed as champions so soon after missing their chance of a dream coronation in the Manchester derby.

However, United’s shock home defeat to an all-but-relegated West Bromwich Albion on Sunday eliminated the slim chance of Jose Mourinho's side providing a late challenge and made City's 16-point lead at the top of the table unassailable.

Tottenham vs Manchester City - player ratings Show all 22 1 /22 Tottenham vs Manchester City - player ratings Tottenham vs Manchester City - player ratings Hugo Lloris: 6/10 Made a couple of crucial saves but was once again put under lots of pressure and didn’t always look super confident in front of goal. Nowhere to be seen for City’s goal. Getty Images Tottenham vs Manchester City - player ratings Kieran Trippier: 5/10 He was okay in an attacking sense and put in some dangerous crosses but he was the most susceptible for City’s goal and looked uncomfortable in defending for a lot of the evening. Getty Images Tottenham vs Manchester City - player ratings Davinson Sanchez: 6/10 Been really impressive this season but today wasn’t his finest day. I don’t think it’ll be a fine day for most centre backs taking on City, mind you. AP Tottenham vs Manchester City - player ratings Toby Alderweireld: 6/10 Was fine but less composed when not alongside Vertonghen. EPA Tottenham vs Manchester City - player ratings Ben Davies: 5/10 Lost Mahrez for City’s opening goal and didn’t offer too much going forward. Danny Rose to come back in. EPA Tottenham vs Manchester City - player ratings Eric Dier: 5/10 Made some unnecessary fouls as per usual and was bettered by City’s midfielders on the whole during the game. Subbed off after an hour. REUTERS Tottenham vs Manchester City - player ratings Moussa Dembele: 6/10 Was better than his midfield partner and showed his strength at certain times but it’s still hard to play against this relentless City side. EPA Tottenham vs Manchester City - player ratings Moussa Sissoko: 6/10 Has a few positive moments but lacks the composure on the ball in the key areas. AP Tottenham vs Manchester City - player ratings Erik Lamela: 6/10 Like Lucas, looked good in sparks, but lost the ball just far too often, giving it back to Manchester City all too often. Provided the best chance for Spurs with a clever pass, though. AP Tottenham vs Manchester City - player ratings Lucas Moura: 5/10 Showed some decent bursts of pace and looked a threat, like he has for a lot of this season so far, but his dive was rather appalling and he couldn’t find as much space as he has done this year. Getty Images Tottenham vs Manchester City - player ratings Harry Kane: 5/10 Another off night for the English centre forward. Just hasn’t quite got back to his best yet and a really heavy touch in the first half set the tone for his evening. EPA Tottenham vs Manchester City - player ratings Ederson: 8/10 Another fantastic display from the Brazilian as it was his long ball that set Raheem Sterling on his way early in the first half to set up Riyah Mahrez but he also made crucial blocks to stop Harry Kane. PA Tottenham vs Manchester City - player ratings Kyle Walker: 7/10 A good performance for the returning full back. Caught out of position on a few occasions but a generally good showing. AP Tottenham vs Manchester City - player ratings John Stones: 7/10 Strong performance from a player who has had his critics. Getty Images Tottenham vs Manchester City - player ratings Aymeric Laporte: 8/10 Continues to impress at the heart of the City defence, having played every minute so far this season. AFP/Getty Images Tottenham vs Manchester City - player ratings Benjamin Mendy: 6/10 Definitely the most susceptible player in City’s backline. Made a couple of errors but got away with them as Spurs failed to capitalise. Getty Images Tottenham vs Manchester City - player ratings Bernardo Silva: 7/10 Neat and tidy performance again, creating plenty of good moments for City. AFP/Getty Images Tottenham vs Manchester City - player ratings Fernandinho: 8/10 Such a composed and impressive midfielder who allows the fluid attacking to happen in front of him. Getty Images Tottenham vs Manchester City - player ratings David Silva: 7/10 Wasn’t at his majestic best this evening and missed a fantastic opportunity to make it 2-0 in the second half but despite that, still the master at keeping the ball. Getty Images Tottenham vs Manchester City - player ratings Riyad Mahrez - 8/10 Really improving in the blue (or purple) of City, and has put that Liverpool penalty miss behind him. Scored City’s only goal this evening and dedicated to the Leicester chairman, who sadly died in the Saturday night helicopter crash outside the King Power stadium. Getty Images Tottenham vs Manchester City - player ratings Sergio Aguero: 6/10 Aguero missed countless opportunities to put the game to bed but he still led the line efficiently and despite the lack of goals, can be reasonably happy with his performance. EPA Tottenham vs Manchester City - player ratings Raheem Sterling: 8/10 Caused all sorts of problems for Kieran Trippier and set up City’s early goal. Just another good performance from the English winger. PA

The destination of the title has never looked in doubt since at least December and De Bruyne believes that after such a dominant Premier League campaign, success on the continent must be next on City's agenda.

“Of course, that’s the next step for us,” the Belgian said when asked about the club's European aspirations. “I think we have played some great games in the Champions League and we’ve not been too far away.

“Maybe we haven’t gone as far as we would have liked, but there have been performances along the way that show we could do something special in the future.

“It’s great to play at the highest level and success doesn’t come easy when you’re playing against teams who have been around it for so many years, but we improved a little on last season and we’ll look to do the same again next year.

“It’s what we all want, to do the best we can in all of the competitions, and the Champions League is no different.”

De Bruyne believes City are now well-placed to enjoy a sustained period of success at the top of the game given their intelligent recruitment of quality young players in recent years, who have supplemented the squad's experienced core.

“Of course, the club has planned for this [with the recruitment of young players] and we want to make that [sustained success] happen now,” he said. “It’s no coincidence that the type of players brought in over the last year or two have all been of a similar age and we will look to build as a group together.

Kevin de Bruyne believes City are well placed to cement their place at the top of English football (Getty)

“The feeling amongst the squad is great. We have enjoyed the season a lot but there is work to do if we want to achieve more in future. That can be the trickiest thing in football, to not only win but keep winning. Having such a young squad will hopefully help us to achieve that.”

Though only 26 years old, De Bruyne is already one of the senior dressing room figureheads at the Etihad, having been nominated to join Guardiola's 'senior players' group' earlier in the season.

The Belgian offers something of a bridge between the 'class of 2012' – captain Vincent Kompany, David Silva and Sergio Aguero – and more recent, younger recruits like Leroy Sané and Raheem Sterling.

“It was definitely a change for me,” he said of his elevated status. “You get used to being a younger player in the team and then as the club brings new players in you realise you’ve become one of the senior guys.

“It’s been great to be part of the group and take on the extra responsibility but at the same time the whole team has achieved this together.

“This hasn’t been about one player or one group of players. It’s been about having a mixture of young guys and players who have been around a little longer, understand the competition a bit better and coming together to be champions.”

The Belgian has adopted a more senior role within the Manchester City side (Bongarts/Getty Images)

Tying it all together is Guardiola himself, who has recovered from a challenging debut year in English football to dominate it.

The Catalan has a year remaining on his current City contract and is expected to sit down for talks with the club's hierarchy over a new deal during the summer.

“Everyone knows he’s one of the best coaches in the world,” De Bruyne said of Guardiola. “To achieve what he has achieved in the game is special and to be part of a group of players led by him can only help us to keep developing.

“He came in two years ago and changed the way we play. That obviously takes time to adapt to but we’ve developed together and this season is a reward for all that work.