Pep Guardiola has hit back at Manchester City spending critics
Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola(Image: (James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images))
Pep Guardiola has aimed a cheeky dig at Liverpool and Manchester City’s rivals after being quizzed about his side’s spending during this summer’s transfer window. The Etihad club have spent big this summer with Rayan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Marcus Bettinelli, Sverre Nypan and James Trafford all moving to the Etihad.
However, Liverpool have also spent around £300m on transfers, with Florian Wirtz joining in a deal that could cost £116m and Hugo Ekitike also making the move to Anfield for a fee that could reach £79m. Chelsea and Manchester United have also spent, combined, over £400m on incomings.
And Guardiola, when asked about his side’s spending, was quick to point out that it wasn’t just his club who have spent big this summer.
He said: “If the clubs spend it, it’s because with the strict Financial Fair Play rules, because they can do it. And yeah, apparently it’s not just Man City, right?”
When asked if the increased spend at other clubs gave him a feeling of vindication over criticism his own club has faced, Guardiola said, “Absolutely not! I know they do it to us [criticise Manchester City’s spending], but I will not be in that game.
“Everyone does what they believe is the best for the team, and I know our net spend in 10 or 11 years is amazing – just take a look. I know it’s just, ‘Spend! Spend!’ No, the question is if you spend, it’s because you sell. Otherwise you cannot spend.
“So we have been really good in that term, just take a look if you are interested, it has been really good. That’s why we have been sustainable, and of course there are rules that we have to defend and protect.”
Before he continued: “And if this season we spend more for the reason of injuries, the World Cup, but in the previous season we didn’t spend almost few, few, few because we had a team that was the Champions and was stable, and the reason why it happened was because we had a lot of injuries.
“But every club does what they want! We spend a lot, right. And net spend is fantastic. And we won. This business is the fact if you win, right? And the people spend to win, at the level that you can.
“But in this league, for many reasons, we have more resources to do it, and if they do it it’s because they want to try – and we’ll see on the pitch what happens!”
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