“You feel if they don’t win the Champions League then it’s not a good season. But if they do win it, it’s a great season,” Wright told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“I would start saving players for it because that’s what City have got to start focusing on.”

Pep Guardiola, who won two Champions League titles at Barcelona, has not managed to take City beyond the quarterfinals of the competition.

“With the team he assembled, we thought it would happen in his tenure,” Wright added.

“He’s three years in with a team that has played at a really high intensity and City have not been able to stay up with a Liverpool side that have kicked on.”

City return to league action on Sunday against 18th-placed West Ham United