PEP GUARDIOLA claims Manchester City would have come under fire if they had spent what Chelsea did last month.
The Blues splurged an eye-watering £326million on eight signings including Benoit Badiashile, Mykhailo Mudryk and Enzo Fernandez.
It comes after Chelsea splashed out £385m last summer, far outspending their Premier League rivals.
Chelsea were also the highest spenders in 2020-21, a title City have not had since 2017-18 despite their billions.
The Citizens have often been criticised for their lavish spending in the past and Guardiola feels Chelsea are not being scrutinised as harshly.
Asked in his pre-match press conference whether City would have been condemned for shelling out as much as Chelsea, Guardiola said: “Definitely.
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“I know what would happen because we have in the last five or six years.
“What counts is winning titles. What Chelsea and the other clubs have done is not my business.
“You need good players like they [big spending teams] all believe but the market is just wow now. You have to spend to achieve. This is the reality.
“In football there’s not a position where you are completely right so we just do our best.”
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Last year City were investigated over financial dealings relating to activity in 2018.
In February 2020, City were banned from Uefa competition for two years and fined £25million over Financial Fair Play violations.
That was thrown out by the Court of Arbitration for Sport five months later.
They also risked a Premier League points deduction last season.
City made just one January signing – Maximo Perrone for a reported £8m after their initial offer was knocked back.
Joao Cancelo left the club to join Bayern Munich on loan with an option for a permanent transfer.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
