'Grumpy' Guardiola points finger at spending rivals
Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City's rivals are the ones who should be put under scrutiny for their transfer expenditure.
Man City, second in the Premier League, six points back from leader Arsenal, spent big to sign Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi last month.
City loaned Kalvin Phillips to Sheffield United on Tuesday. Its January business came after a busy summer in which Guardiola overhauled his squad.
Guehi has slotted straight into an injury-ravaged defence, while Semenyo has made an instant impact, scoring four goals in five City appearances. He is just the second player to find the net in as many as four of his first five appearances for the Citizens as a Premier League club (from 1992-93), after Emmanuel Adebayor in 2009.
One of Semenyo's goals came against Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup, with City taking a 2-0 lead into the second leg of its semi-final tie, which takes place at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday.
Ahead of that clash, Guardiola claimed City should not be the only club judged on high transfer spend, as he claimed it is seventh for net spend in the Premier League over the past four-and-a-half years.
"I'm a little bit sad and upset, because, in net spend in the last five years, we are seventh in the Premier League," Guardiola said with a smile.
"I want to be the first. I don't understand why the club doesn't spend more money. I am a little bit grumpy with them!
"But like we won in the past because we spent a lot, now six teams have to win the Premier Leagues, Champions Leagues and FA Cups because they spend more in the last five years.
"These are facts. It's not an opinion. Good luck to the six teams in front of us for net spend for the last five years. Let's go. I'm waiting. That's a nice quote, eh?"
While City was busy in the market, Newcastle kept its powder dry.
"Financially, it wasn't possible. There may have been players we were looking at for the future," explained Eddie Howe. "Younger players coming in who we could develop, but ultimately nothing that would affect the first team.
"We have only been active in one transfer window out of the last four or five, so we are under financial restrictions, we have to be smart, and we have decided to wait until the summer.
"The summer window is a lot easier to recruit in, there are a lot more players available and potentially better value for money. We can't sign players that don't exist and we have to work under the conditions we are in."
