Ready to turn the page and leave the painful removal of the Champions League in the hands of Real Madrid, in Manchester City they opened their wallets and took control of one of the jewels of world football, the Norwegian Erling Haaland, who at 21 years of age. at Premier age from Borussia Dortmund.

The announcement was made official in a surprising way on Tuesday, putting an early end to what has promised to be the soap opera of the summer pass market in Europe, with few lovers for the diamond in the rough who can guess the bottom. of the wonderful scorer born. in the Nordic land.

After the confirmation of Haaland’s move, to England, the magnifying glass was again placed on Pep Guardiola and on the millionaires who have signed for his club since he took the technical direction, in September 2016. A purchase policy retained thanks to economic power owner of Manchester City, the Arab Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahayan.

Those who value Guardiola’s work defend him based on the play shown by his teams and the dominance he also imposed on the results, on the brink of winning his fourth Premier League in six seasonsand has a leading role in the Champions League, reaching the final in 2021 and the semis in 2022.

But those who criticize him not only criticize Pep for not getting the top trophy at club level, but also point to the urgent need to make stratospheric hiring at the start of each season. According to site estimates Transfer market, the City has spent more than $ 1.7 billion on transfers over the past 10 years; more than, for example, Real Madrid, which removed 1.1 billion dollars and throughout this decade raised Orejona four times (and could do so for the fifth time against Liverpool).

The smartest case is the purchase of Jack Grealish, from Aston Villa, for 100 million euros, in August 2021. The striker received the number 10 shirt and is considered the most expensive move by an English footballer in history but has never been able to establish himself. as a starter in Guardiola’s team.

In the midst of these debates around Pep’s City, the speaker was patrick eve, the remembered ex-soccer player and Manchester United symbol, who didn’t bother to review the Citizens ’defeat at the Bernabéu:“ Manchester City need leaders and Guardiola doesn’t want such players. He doesn’t like personality. Josep is the leader, he doesn’t have anyone on the pitch to help him, ”the Senegalese nationalized Frenchman said.

In all things and against all, Guardiola spoke at the preview of the league duel his team played against Wolverhampton, a pending against the Premier, where he would have to win or draw to separate from Liverpool, when only two dates were left. left for finishing. of the game.contest.

Pep replied

“For people it’s just money, it’s okay, if you want to think, think,” Guardiola replied in an interview on the Football Daily site, whose video began to go viral. He added: “I really know what my job is here and I say ‘ok, don’t give me credit, don’t give us credit, but let’s give credit to ourselves.’ As a coach, I can give credit to my players and my staff. ” .

Asked about the “snobbery” surrounding the money City spends, compared to what other teams in Europe spend, Pep again mentioned Liverpool, a team where he has fueled growing rivalry in recent weeks.

“Listen, when Liverpool in the 70s or 80s, or United in the 90s were doing well (winning titles), who was spending more money? Was it Norwich? Did Norwich or Leicester spend more money at the time that? No, they spent more money than other teams. But the money was different then compared to now “, Pep analyzed.

When asked why the money is different from now on, Guardiola was surprised by the answer: “I said I would change that,” said the Spaniard, to his English interlocutor.

And he added, using the sponsor wearing a Manchester City shirt as an example: “When we put Etihad (the brand) on the chest here, they told us they were paying too high a price. But now United and Liverpool or anyone will be charged probably more because of that kind of sponsor and they do it because they work well, because the CEO negotiates well, or whatever. “

At the end of his argument, Guardiola also disrupted the source of capital injection into clubs and raised another controversy. “So? Because (the money) is from the United States of America or another country, so now is it perfect? But that’s not going to change in the long run, it’s not going to change, that’s the truth. The only way we can change is to do good on the field ”, closed the DT, who left a final comment in reference to Evra.

“Most of my players have won World Cups, European championships and leagues … Maybe Evra is right or maybe he’s making the right statements to go back to Manchester United and work there,” Pep shot.