Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has called out the hypocrisy in the coverage of his club’s spending in comparison to clubs like Chelsea. In the embargoed section of his press conference before City’s clash with Newcastle, Pep laid out the facts of the spending in the transfer market.
With Chelsea having spent almost £1 billion in the past three transfer windows, Guardiola stated that City couldn’t do the same. When asked about the London club’s spending, he answered: “I couldn’t sit here if we spent what Chelsea spent in the last two transfer windows – you would kill me. You will kill me, that is for sure. We’d be under scrutiny like you couldn’t imagine.”
When asked if Chelsea’s spending bothered him, Guardiola said it didn’t. He just highlighted the fact that coverage would be different if the European champions spent the same amount of money. He expanded on his answer saying: “Absolutely not, they can do what they want,” he said. “I don’t criticise Chelsea for one second. I’m saying, if we do it, we are dead, all around the world. They can do whatever they want. I have admiration for Todd Boehly. I met him. I’m glad they did it, of course, they can do it. They can do whatever they want. If they want to spend, I don’t know, £900 million since he arrived, 900 more, 900 more. They have it. The business is the business. They sell a lot this season so they can do it. I don’t like when they criticise me, what we do, what I have to say. Everyone has their own business and everyone does what is best for the club. Everyone does it.”
Pep Guardiola has only pointed out what many Manchester City fans have said for years now. If the treble winners had spent similar money to Chelsea, Arsenal and others this window the coverage would be completely different, a fact not lost on the City manager.
