Cape Town - Following Jmes Milner's decision to quit Manchester City, Joe Hart, who is a close friend of Milner's, said he was "very sad" to see him leave the Etihad Stadium.
Hart is now the only England regular left in City's squad and with club chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak promising to bring in "high-quality" signings during the close season, the goalkeeper expressed hope that some of the players coming in will be English.
"It is a long summer ahead," said Hart, who signed a new five-year contract with City last December.
"Losing Frank (Lampard) and James, I am not in the discussions of transfers, but I imagine with home-grown players and stuff like that, it will be top of their list to bring in English players or to promote some of the lads (from the youth team).
"I am sure we will have a good, balanced squad come the start of the season."
Invited to assess City's chances of wresting the Premier League title back from Jose Mourinho's Chelsea in the 2015-16 season, Hart said: "I am very confident.
"I am very confident in Man City as a club, which is why I committed my future to the club. I think what they are doing is fantastic.
"(Al Mubarak) is a great chairman. They have done amazing things since coming. That is definitely now down to us."