Pep Guardiola takes aim at six teams over Man City spending - 'grumpy'

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola wanted to speak about 'facts' in regard to the spending in the Premier League

Pep Guardiola joked that he was grumpy with his Manchester City bosses for not spending more in the transfer window as he took a swipe at their reputation for spending. City brought in Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi in January to take their spending in the last 12 months to £430m.

However, they have also made hundreds of million back in sales and over the last five years six teams - including their Carabao Cup semi-final opposition Newcastle - have a higher net spend than City. Having consistently railed against the unfair reputation that the club has with their successes being put down to money, Guardiola did not resist an opportunity to point out that the expectation and pressure should now lie with the six teams that have spent more than them: United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs, Newcastle, and Liverpool.

"I'm a little bit sad and upset because in net spend the last five years we are 7th in the Premier League. I want to be the first, I don't understand why the club don't spend more money. I am a little bit grumpy with them," he said.

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"But like we won in the past because we spent a lot, now six teams have to win the Premier Leagues, Champions Leagues and FA Cups because they spend more in the last five years. These are facts. It's not an opinion.

"You can say an opinion, like you say you play good or bad against Spurs - we can agree or disagree. But they are facts. Good luck to the six teams who are in front of us for net spend for the last five years. Let's go. I'm waiting. That's a nice quote, eh?"

City hold a 2-0 advantage over Newcastle heading in to the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi and will be hoping to book another trip to Wembley if they can do something they have struggled with this year and hold on to leads.

"This is the point of today and tomorrow. We have a chance to make our fifth final in ten years in the Carabao Cup. Of course a good result, I prefer to start 2-0 up but I know how many times we play against Newcastle and the pride they have as a Champions League team," he said.

"We have to be prepared and see how the players recover from a tough game at Spurs and play our game with our people and our fans and try to reach Wembley in March."