5 hours ago
3
Manchester City face Arsenal at the Emirates on Sunday and Pep Guardiola has pointed out a contrast between the reaction to the club's spending.
Pep Guardiola claims Arsenal are given an easier ride over their spending than Manchester City as the two sides prepare to resume hostilities this weekend.
City and Arsenal have developed a bitter rivalry on and off the pitch in recent years and Guardiola used Arsenal's £300million summer spending spree to point out that the Gunners are treated differently when they splash the cash.
Arsenal's window took their spending since the summer of 2021 to more than £900million, which is marginally more than City's in the same period. But while Guardiola's side have hoovered up silverware, Arsenal have won nothing, and the Blues boss turned up the sarcasm to stress his point.
"I want to say to my friend Mikel Arteta, if he wins the title, it will be just because he spent, not because he worked a lot or his players," said Guardiola.
"It's like Liverpool. If Arne (Slot) wins again, it will be because he spent a lot of money. Right? Because it's not just Man City that happened. It's for all of them.
"Every club can do whatever they want. I know how they've been treated is completely different, but what he wants to spend is because they want it and it's fine. All I can say is they have been wise. They spent what they believe they can to compete against the best teams in the Premier League and Europe."
Arsenal signed four players for more than £48million this summer - Martin Zubimendi, Eberechi Eze, Viktor Gyokeres and Noni Madueke - as they seek to claim their first title for 22 years.
Guardiola believes that has strengthened them as a team and warned his side that they face an immovable object at the Emirates.
"Window by window, step by step, Arsenal is getting better. So last season in Europe, they made an incredible step forward and they are for me the most solid team," he said.
"They don't make mistakes in the back and are this incredibly solid team. They have space in front, they have set pieces with Nico Jover, who was here. So it's in every department, what a team in every department."
The fixtures is City's toughest assignment of the season to date, having won two and lost two of their first four Premier League fixtures.
Claiming a win at the Emirates will put a different complexion on their start but Guardiola played down the importance of the game and said he won't look at the table until Christmas.
"Sir Alex Ferguson, when I arrived here, said to Brian Kidd, in the Premier League, you have to, before Boxing Day, stay close to the top four. And after that you can think about it," Guardiola said.
"Last season, after Boxing Day, we were in another country. So that's why, let's go today and we'll see what happens. There are many games. For experience, in the six Premier Leagues, I think four or five, we were in December, January, behind Liverpool. And behind Arsenal. And at the end, we won it. So that's why, see the team going up. That is all my concern right now.
"See the team make a step forward every day. We're not going to win the Premier League on Sunday. We're not going to lose the Premier League on Sunday. So we see the team, that we are better than last season there, and we are better and continue a little bit, many good things that we have done in these two games, and continue with that."
English (US) ·