Guardiola BLASTS Man Utd over transfer spending

Karan Tejwani

• 28 Feb 2023 09:40 GMT
• 3 min read

Pep Guardiola has taken a jibe at Manchester United after their recent Carabao Cup win, which ended a trophy drought that lasted nearly six years.

Manchester United beat Newcastle 2-0 on Sunday at Wembley with goals from Casemiro and Marcus Rashford ensuring victory for Erik ten Hag’s side.

The club spent big in the summer to strengthen their squad, signing players like Antony, Lisandro Martinez and Casemiro, and there are plans to add to that in the future.

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Now, after being asked whether they could sustain that success, Guardiola took a sarcastic swipe at Manchester City’s local rivals.

Man City boss aims jibe at Man Utd

The Catalan boss was asked whether United were back, to which he replied: “If they spend a little more money, yes. It’s because they didn’t spend, isn’t it?”

This was in reference to the criticism he and Manchester City have faced in recent years for their spending and rise to success under his management.

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Manchester City have won four Premier League titles, four League Cups and one FA Cup, as well as reaching the Champions League final once under the manager, and that has largely been attributed to their free-spending nature, which has often been a gripe for Guardiola.

Over the same time period, Manchester United had only won three trophies despite having spent around £850 million - £25 million more than Manchester City.

Much of Manchester United’s spending has been aimless but things have been more streamlined under Ten Hag, with a clearer vision than they had in previous years.

The club are still active in both cup competitions - the FA Cup and Europa League - and are in third place in the league, eight points behind leaders Arsenal with an outside chance of a title fight.

They are also of interest to bidders for a potential takeover, which could possibly give them more freedom to spend in the future.