Manchester City is the team that spent the most in the January transfer window and has spent about 430 million pounds in the past 13 months, making spending since the beginning of 2025 considered wasteful. However, Pep Guardiola argues that if placed in the context of the past half decade - even a league - the story is different.
Guardiola understands Man City will never get rid of the label of a wasteful spender. "Never, never, never. Always, we will live with that" - Guardiola said.
However, when looking at the rankings and net spending charts, he added a bit of playfulness: "I am a bit sad and disappointed because in the past 5 years we have only been 7th in the Premier League in terms of net spending. I want to be at the top, I don't understand why the club doesn't spend more money. I am a bit uncomfortable with them".
But if we used to win because we spent a lot, now 6 other teams also have to win the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup because they have spent more in the past 5 years. This is the truth, not personal opinion. Good luck to the 6 teams that are leading us in net spending in the past 5 years. Go on. I'm waiting.
Those 6 teams, in descending order, are Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Newcastle and Liverpool. And each team has its own context. Liverpool is the reigning Premier League champion, and Arsenal is a strong contender. Chelsea has won the Champions League in the last 5 years, but that was before the huge spending period under Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.
Newcastle is also strong, but starting point is a team that once faced the risk of relegation. Meanwhile, Man United and Tottenham reached the Europa League final last season, but only finished in 15th and 17th positions in the Premier League.
Guardiola may have chosen the data in a favorable direction. For example, if calculated in a decade, City's net spending is third. In the past 5 years, only Liverpool - with about 450 million pounds, even before the Jeremy Jacquet deal was completed - has spent more, while The Citizens' net spending is about 350 million pounds.
However, Man City's financial strength is still clearly shown through their recruitment of two targets pursued by many teams in January. Marc Guehi seems to be a bargain for 20 million pounds, but Liverpool believes that his salary is only suitable for a single club.
Antoine Semenyo joined Etihad for £62.5 million in the context that Spurs, Chelsea and Liverpool were all interested. Previously, City spent about £180 million in January last year and another £170 million in the summer.
However, there are also factors that help reinforce Guardiola's arguments somewhat. Guehi is not the only case with surprisingly low prices. Gianluigi Donnarumma and Rayan Cherki were also like that last summer, before that were Erling Haaland and Manuel Akanji.
City's transfer work is usually more effective than most opponents and apart from the £100 million Jack Grealish deal, they do not always pay the most expensive transfer fees. However, that is only a part of the total cost. City's net spending without salary funds is often among the highest, even though Liverpool may be the top team this season.
Man City's net spending also reflects another reality. They signed fewer players than many teams, especially Chelsea - a team famous for bustling shopping.
This may suggest that City's contracts are often more durable. Besides, 5-year statistics also started from the time City already had a champion team, with many pillars such as Rodri, Ruben Dias, John Stones or Bernardo Silva still in the club. They also did not need to buy Kevin de Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, Kyle Walker or Joao Cancelo in 2021.
Now, The Citizens are building another team. The strong purchases in the last three transfer windows - with 13 new players - are partly a consequence of the previous period when they did too little.
Man City also sells players better than most other teams, thereby significantly offsetting costs, sometimes in ways that comply with PSR regulations. They sell academy products - most notably Cole Palmer in a deal that may make them regretful - along with names like Taylor Harwood-Bellis, James McAtee, Oscar Bobb and James Trafford (before buying back).
