Pep Guardiola attacked Chelsea head-on at a press conference.
Pep Guardiola has said Manchester City critics would “kill him” if the club had spent as much as Chelsea since the Todd Boehly takeover.
The Blues have spent almost a billion pounds since Boehly and Clearlake Capital took control of them in May 2022. Guardiola believes City would have been criticized more harshly had they spent a similar amount on new players.
“I couldn’t sit here if we spent what Chelsea spent in the last two transfer windows – you’d be killing me,” he told reporters.
“You would kill me, that’s for sure. We would be scrutinized in ways you cannot imagine. We have to see what is happening in the market, if we can do it and pay what we think is fair. We wanted (Harry) Maguire and we didn’t buy him because we didn’t want to pay, we wanted (Marc) Cucurella and we didn’t pay, we wanted Alexis Sanchez and we didn’t pay.
“At the end of the day, we’ll pay what’s right to do it. Otherwise, we have the academy. We won’t be desperate just to get another player. I don’t criticize Chelsea for a single second. I say if we do, we’re dead, all over the world. People’s mindset needs to change – everyone spends… A lot. Not just City”.
