Man City boss Pep Guardiola joked that Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta “winned the Premier League title just because he spent time.”
Guardiola has often been offered a great player on calls from opposition fans during his time at Etihad Stadium.
Man City has consistently been one of the highest spenders in the Premier League, but now there are six English teams first in the five-year net spending table.
The club’s high spending has been thrown in Guardiola’s face when it was consistently successful, but Arsenal and Liverpool spent a lot of time in the transfer window in the summer of 2025.
Arsenal brought in eight new players in the form of Kepa Arrizabalaga, Christian Norgaard, Martin Zubimendi, Noni Maduke, Viktor Gyokeres, Eberechi Eze, Crishian Mosquera and Piero Hincapie.
Guardiola told reporters on Friday: “What is that? They decided to do it at Arsenal.
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“I’m telling my friend Mikel Arteta, if he wins the title, it’s not because he worked a lot, it’s because it worked a lot, it’s like Liverpool. If Arne wins again, it’s because he spent a lot of money.
“So for all of them. Listen to all the clubs that for years, all the clubs can do whatever he wants. I know how they’re treated is completely different, but what he wants is because they want it and it’s okay.
“What I can say is they were wise. They spent what they believe they can do to compete with the best teams in Europe and Europe, and they reached that level.
“He found the team like that, and the club, step by step, windows, windows, steps, step, Arsenal is getting better. So in Europe last season they took an incredible step and are the most solid team for me.
“They have a pace ahead of time. They set the pieces together with Nico’s persuasive, of course. He was here. It’s in every department. But we know that.
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In his match against Arsenal, Guardiola added: “Last season’s game started like last season with 100 million goals, and after a lot of time was pretty good considering what happened last season, the last 15-20 minutes was a disaster.
“We forgot to do what we did. It was easy for Arsenal after that. Mikel Arteta is an extraordinary manager and we hope we can do a little more task this season to increase the team with this four or five transfer window.
“It’s an incredible team, an incredible team, one of the toughest opponents you can find in Europe right now, and we’re trying to compete. Especially in the last 20-25 minutes, we want to be a better team than last season.”
Rodri returned to action with a big boost to Man City, but Guardiola admits that it’s unclear whether his defensive midfielder will be able to start three games in a week.
Guardiola continues. “That’s a good question. I don’t know yet. He was very smart. The outcome was not over.
“We watch every day and we’re ready for the game. Yesterday, in the training session, he wasn’t feeling well.
“And we feel more comfortable with him and the pitch. But of course, after an injury you have to be vigilant and decide how he feels on Sunday.”
