Pep Guardiola has waved away questions of Manchester City’s dominance in the modern era of Premier League football.
The former Barcelona boss pointed to the significant financial investment of his rivals – Arsenal, Manchester Untied and Chelsea – and their respective failures to challenge for the title.
“It’s boring? It’s not, it’s so difficult. Because before you know what it was? It was the money,” the Spaniard was quoted by Hayters TV.
“It’s the reason why Man United should have won all the titles. And the second – Chelsea, all the titles. And the third – Arsenal, all the titles. Because they’ve spent much more money in the last five seasons than our net spend. They should be there and they are not there.”
The Sky Blues are on course for a fourth title win in a row – the first side to potentially accomplish the feat in English top-flight football history.
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Does Pep Guardiola have a point?
It’s worth noting that how clubs spend their money – or rather, how effectively – is a significant point.
Despite Liverpool’s limited financial spending compared to their rivals (net spend sees us ninth in the net spend table in the last five years according to Football 365), we’ve managed to overperform in the league.
A big part of that has been making the most of a manager capable of developing players into superstars and a recruitment team renowned for extracting value from the market without always paying over the odds.
That said, to claim that Manchester City have clawed their way to the top by utilising the same method is far from the truth.
Whether Guardiola chooses to accept it or not, the incumbent champions’ success has been built on a platform of heavy spending.
The comparative wealth of the club – fuelled in part by controversial sponsorship deals – has and should continue to raise brows across the globe.