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Liverpool blew its record spend out of the water this summer, breaking its own transfer record in successive deals for Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak. Despite outgoing business bringing the net spend below that of Arsenal, the splurge on new additions has attracted widespread scrutiny — including from Pep Guardiola.
The final gross spend for Liverpool sits at an eye-catching $566 million. As well as Wirtz and Isak, there were significant deals for Hugo Ekitike, Milos Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong, and Giovanni Leoni.
And after a comparatively modest summer, Guardiola has petulantly complained that Liverpool and Arsenal's spending receives more favorable media treatment. He sarcastically suggested that Arne Slot and Mikel Arteta should not get any credit for their success, due to the large sums spent at the two clubs.
"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," Guardiola said, via ESPN. "It's like Liverpool.
"If Arne wins again, it will be because he spent a lot of money. Right?
"Because it's not just Man City that happened, right? So for all of them.
"Listen, for many, many years every club can do whatever he wants, you know? I know how they've been treated is completely different, but what he [Arteta] wants to spend is because they want it and it's fine."
Guardiola has had this particular bee in his bonnet for some time. Understandably, in fairness, he does not enjoy having his considerable achievements called into question on account of the amount Manchester City has spent over the years.
At the same time, you'd hope that one of the best managers of a generation would be bright enough to understand some important context. After all, Liverpool and Arsenal are not facing Premier League charges for artificially inflating incomes over a number of years.
Man City continues to deny all of the charges it faces. But it does not take a genius to work out that while that particular sword is dangling over the Etihad, it will affect the narrative.
Moreover, Guardiola is only able to get on his high horse this summer because Man City happened to concentrate the bulk of its spend in January, as it fought to ensure a place in the Champions League spots. There was around $241 million of winter spending, plus undisclosed sums spent on Juma Bah and Christian McFarlane.
Adding in slightly more than the same again this summer (around $243 million), Man City's spend is barely behind that of Liverpool over the past two windows. And while this stands out as a hugely anomalous period for the Reds, it's a little more standard at the Etihad.
If you look back over the last 10 years, only the two Manchester clubs, Arsenal, and Chelsea have managed to spend over 1 billion euros (roughly $1.2 billion) net. Liverpool checks in at around 650 million euros, or roughly $765 million.
That's a difference of around $45 million every season. And if you extended the window beyond 10 years, you'd get a similar story, with Guardiola benefiting from massive expenditure predating his arrival that dragged Man City into the elite while its commercial pull still lagged behind rivals.
Of course, that can all be true while still acknowledging that Guardiola has done a truly remarkable job at the Etihad, and it must be grating to face constant perceived challenges to the legitimacy of his achievements. Even so, there will be limited sympathy at Anfield for his latest complaints.
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