Pep Guardiola has bared his mind on the future of Man City, saying the club would be dead if they attempt to spend as much as Chelsea.
He said Manchester City would be ‘under scrutiny like you cannot imagine’ if they were spending as much as Chelsea, as per report by football.london.
Since Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali took over Chelsea in May 2022, and following the arrival of Romeo Lavia from Southampton, the Blues have now spent over £850million.
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Ahead of the Premier League champions’ clash against Newcastle on Saturday evening, Guardiola insisted that his side would not get away with spending such large sums of money in the same amount of time. The City boss said: “What I’m saying is that if we did it we’re dead.
“For Chelsea it’s easier than for us. I have no criticism, they can do what they want. But we would be under scrutiny like you cannot imagine. I wouldn’t be sitting here if we spent what Chelsea have spent in two transfer windows – you [media] would kill me.”
This summer, Chelsea have spent almost £300million on eight new players. However their net spend stands at a far more reasonable £87million following the sales of numerous high-profile players.
Kai Havertz, Mateo Kovacic and Mason Mount all quickly found new homes in the English top-flight, while N’Golo Kante, Kalidou Koulibaly and Edouard Mendy jetted off to the Middle East to test themselves in the Saudi Pro League.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Christian Pulisic both joined AC Milan, before Ethan Ampadu penned a deal at Leeds United and Lewis Hall relocated in Tyneside. Meanwhile, Cesar Azpilicueta, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Abdul Rahman Baba all joined new clubs in Europe via free transfers.
Chelsea have spent an eye-watering amount of money recently, but there are still several players who are expected to be culled from the wage bill before the end of the month. Romelu Lukaku and Hakim Ziyech, who were both shunned from first-team preparations in pre-season, face increasingly uncertain futures at Stamford Bridge with escape routes on the table.
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