Manchester City ace Kevin De Bruyne reveals when he wants to win Premier League title

And the Belgium midfielder is aiming to finish the season in style – by smashing Chelsea’s record of 95 points.

If Pep Guardiola’s runaway leaders win their next four games, including the Manchester derby, they will be crowned champions for the third time in seven seasons right in front Jose Mourinho’s team at the Etihad Stadium on the first weekend in April – the earliest the championship has ever been wrapped up.

Man City hold a huge lead but De Bruyne wants it done and dusted so they can turn their attention to winning completing a trophy treble by winning the Champions League.

Guardiola’s scintillating team moved a step closer on Thursday evening by crushing Arsenal 3-0 for the second time in five days to move 16 points clear at the top.

City now have 75 points but if they win their next four games they will have 87 – and the most United could achieve would be 86.

Then they will have Chelsea’s record of 95 points – set in Mourinho’s first season at Stamford Bridge in 2004-05 – in their sights.

“We want to be champions,” said De Bruyne. “If it’s possible to do it in the next four games that would be nice – because then we can concentrate on the Champions League.

“And if we win every game we will probably beat that record, but it is tough. If we can win on Sunday against Chelsea it would be a beautiful week for us.”

Five days on from lifting the first trophy of what could be a treble this season with the Carabao Cup win over Arsenal at Wembley, City registered their 24th win from 28 League games with their usual swagger.

And at the Etihad on Sunday, City will be up against a Chelsea team needing a win to stop them sliding ever further away from a top four place.

But the fact that Chelsea allowed him to leave in 2014 will not be an issue for De Bruyne, who has since developed into one of the world’s best midfielders.

He said: “It’s not a game that means any more to me. I don’t have that in mind. It is just another game, we need to win it, they need to win it. We want to maintain the level we have been playing and they want to fight to get into the top four.”

De Bruyne will come face to face with Belgian team-mate Eden Hazard on Sunday but says friendship will be shelved during the ‘fight’.

“I know Eden very well,” said De Bruyne. “When we play each other it is a fight – but after and before it is all right. When they won the title last year I congratulated him because they deserved it. If we can win it this year we will have deserved it.”

Leroy Sane was on fire again Emirates, setting up City’s first two goals and scoring the third after another defence-splitting move.

De Bruyne believes that the 22-year-old German international can be one of the best in the world if he continues to improve at this rate. He said: “He will be one of the best in the world, if he wants to be. He is so young, but it is scary what he can do at this age.”

Sane himself has paid tribute to Guardiola’s intensive personal coaching and eye for detail for his rapid development since his £37million move from Schalke in the summer of 2016.

“He’s a really good coach,” said Sane. “I think he does a really good job with us. I’m really happy and I like to think the other players are also really happy that we have him as a coach because everyone can see we have improved a lot with him.

“Every player is different and you have to work with every player differently, tell them different things. He’s doing really well with how he handles each player. He talks about my first touch, my positional game, where

I stay in the space to help the team, in the defence. He’s helping me in every detail where I can improve.”

Sane feared he could be out for months after being on the end of an X-rated tackle by Cardiff’s Jack Bennett but admits he was lucky the injury was not as serious as first feared and he ended up missing only three games.

“I was just hoping that the injury wasn’t so bad and I wasn’t out for months,” he added. “With how it looked like and how it felt, I was kind of lucky.”

City have been fined £50,000 for failing to control their players in the FA Cup fifth-round tie against Wigan.