Pep Guardiola jokes City should “spend more” despite January signings

Pep Guardiola has once again blurred the line between sarcasm and sincerity, joking that Manchester City should be spending more money — despite already reinforcing their squad during the January window.

Speaking ahead of City’s Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Newcastle on Wednesday, Guardiola delivered a deliberately pointed assessment of the club’s transfer record, suggesting he is “grumpy” that City are only seventh for net spend over the last five years.

The comments came just 24 hours after the winter window closed, with City having already added two major pieces to their squad.

Pep Guardiola was asked how much credit sporting director Hugo Viana deserved for landing Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guéhi in January.

“Really good,” Guardiola replied — before quickly pivoting.

“I am a little bit sad and upset because the net spent the last five years, we are seventh in the Premier League,” he said.
“I want to be the first. I don't understand how the club don't spend more money so I am a little bit grumpy with them.”

The delivery was unmistakably Guardiola — dry, provocative, and likely designed to underline a broader point rather than genuinely criticise the board.

City moved early in the window to strengthen, completing the £64m signing of Antoine Semenyo at the start of January before adding Marc Guéhi from Crystal Palace in a £20m deal.

Those arrivals followed a busy summer that saw City reshape the squad significantly, bringing in Gianluigi Donnarumma, Rayan Aït-Nouri, Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki, James Trafford and highly-rated teenager Sverre Nypan.

Yet Guardiola framed City’s spending in relative terms, pointing to how rivals have outpaced them in net expenditure.

“But with the position like we were in the past, because we spent a lot, now six teams have to win the Champions League and Premier Leagues and FA Cups because they have spent more in the last five years,” Guardiola added.

“This is a fact. You can say opinions like ‘you played good’ or ‘you played bad’ — we can agree or disagree — but those are facts.

“Good luck to the six teams that are in front of us in net spend over the last five years. Good luck, we are waiting.”

The subtext was clear: City’s success has come despite no longer leading the spending charts.

Part of the context lies in last summer’s departures. Jack Grealish, Ederson, Ilkay Gündogan and Manuel Akanji were all allowed to leave, while Kyle Walker departed in a cut-price deal and several young players were sent out on loan.

City spent around £152m in the summer but recorded a net spend of roughly £99m — ranking seventh in the Premier League. Arsenal (£246m) and Liverpool (£228m) led the way, followed by Manchester United, Tottenham, Sunderland and Everton.

Over the past five years, City still rank second for total transfer spending in the league at around £950m, behind only Chelsea, whose outlay has exceeded £1.5bn.

Guardiola’s comments are unlikely to signal genuine unrest. He has a long history of using humour and exaggeration to frame bigger narratives — in this case, that City are no longer the financial outliers they once were.

With a semi-final looming and multiple trophies still in play, City’s focus remains firmly on results. The spending debate, as Guardiola himself suggested, is more about perception than complaint.