Pep Guardiola makes Chelsea spending comparison as he defends Man City transfer record

Pep Guardiola claimed he would be ‘killed’ if Manchester City had spent the sort of money Chelsea have in the last year.

The London club have parted with close to £1bn in the transfer market over the last year since Todd Boehly took charge at Stamford Bridge, and on Friday, Romeo Lavia arrived for a fee of up to £58m, becoming Chelsea’s eighth signing of the summer.

In comparison, City have spent just over £100m this window and Guardiola reiterated the Premier League champions’ stance that they will not overpay for players in the market.

“For Chelsea, it is easier than us, for sure,” Guardiola said on Friday, when asked if it was difficult for City in the transfer market, as they consider buying a replacement for the injured Kevin De Bruyne. “I couldn't sit here if we spent what Chelsea spent in the last two transfer windows - you [the media] would kill me.

“You will kill me, that is for sure. We'd be under scrutiny like you couldn't imagine. When people say just Manchester City and Pep Guardiola buy players, I didn’t know I had a lot of money in my pocket to buy all the players I have.

“We have to see what happens in the market and if we can do it and to pay what we believe is fair. We wanted [Harry] Maguire and didn’t buy him because we didn’t want to pay, we wanted [Marc] Cucurella and didn’t pay, we wanted Alexis Sanchez and didn’t pay. In the end we will pay what is fair to do it. Otherwise we have the academy.   

“The club is smart. Everyone wants to be like Brighton,” he continued. “But we are here to win trebles, the demand for every game. What the strategy, Txiki [Begiristain], Ferran [Soriano] Khaldoon [Al Mubarak] are doing a good job. I cannot assure everything, we won’t be desperate just to get another player. There are a lot of clubs to get rid of a lot of players.”

Meanwhile, Guardiola also claimed Premier League sides cannot complain about the spending of Saudi Arabian clubs, after a summer where English top-flight teams have profited immensely from the lavish spending coming from the Arab state.

“Everybody complains about Saudi Arabia, the clubs, then they open the door, red carpet ‘what do you want my friend?’. They sell everything. They are so happy.

“Everyone complains but everyone opens the door. Open - this league, other leagues, they are complaining about them until they make the deals. They make deals with Saudi Arabia on whatever.

“That is the reality, everyone tries to do the best, everyone. Step by step, not just Man City. We won because we have a lot of players, spent a lot of money, like everyone. But there is a lot of work behind the scenes. Not just money wins the treble, my friends, I’m sorry. We want to defend the cups.”