Liverpool vs Manchester City: Pep Guardiola ‘bothered’ by Jurgen Klopp’s transfer spending jibe

Klopp claimed City have freedom to spend what they want

Pep Guardiola has admitted to being “bothered” by Jurgen Klopp’s comments on Manchester City’s spending in the transfer market.

Klopp said earlier this week that City are one of a handful of clubs in world football who can spend at will each summer while Liverpool are not at the same level.

City are understood to have been puzzled by Klopp’s comments, with chief operating officer Omar Berrada describing the remarks as “curious” on Thursday.

Guardiola echoed Berrada prior to City’s Community Shield meeting with Liverpool at Wembley this weekend. “Does it bother me? Of course it bothers me,” he said on Friday “That is not true.

“It’s Liverpool, ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’. It’s not a small team. It’s Liverpool. Of course I don’t like it because it’s not true. Last season we spent £17m [net] – one seven – on just one player.

“When I said two seasons ago I spent a lot, it’s because I took over a team with 10 or 11 players over 30-years, so I had to do it. We cannot spend £200m every season.”

Liverpool’s net spend on incomings last season totalled approximately £132m, though the Merseysiders have been much quieter this summer with only youngster Sepp van den Berg and Harvey Elliott brought in.

“Today the clubs cannot spend every single season a lot of money,” Guardiola said. ”I don’t know what happened at Barcelona because I’m not there. If they think they can do it, it’s because they can do it.

“That’s why Financial Fair Play, when something is wrong and the clubs are not correct, they are punished. That is the reality. Other managers can say what they say but I can only say that is not true.”

Guardiola was clearly irked by Klopp's remarks, but still found time to praise his Liverpool counterpart as he prepares to contest the Premier League title with him once again.

"He is a class manager, a top manager. It is an incredible challenge for me when I face his teams," he said.

"The way he plays, his behaviour, his smile, hugging. I think it's so good for football. His message is always in a positive way, sometimes with some exceptions, but most of the time it's good."