“Each club has its own reality, its own history,” he said. The balance of power has swung to the nouveaux riches. Guardiola is the Barcelona ball boy turned captain and manager whose former club’s overspending meant they could not afford to keep Lionel Messi. Perhaps Guardiola’s argument would then alter. Otherwise, we cannot do it.” Sign Kane, possibly for a fee 50% or 60% larger than Grealish commanded, and City’s net spend would be substantially larger. “We have bought Jack Grealish because we sell for £60m, so in the end we have spent £40m. “I said last year that we couldn’t spend £100m,” he said. Guardiola reasoned that City’s ability to bring in fees for peripheral players such as Jack Harrison, Lukas Nmecha and Angeliño, plus Jadon Sancho’s sell-on clause, reduced their overall outlay. Tottenham offered £25m for Grealish in 2018 perhaps Daniel Levy’s reluctance to go higher amounted to a false economy as, three years later, Manchester City paid four times as much for the Aston Villa captain. English football’s maiden nine-figure buy may be used in the case for the prosecution. Guardiola can be an alchemist of a coach and an inventive tactician, but he is familiar with the accusation he has become a chequebook manager. If Sunday’s game at Tottenham doubles up as a tug of war for Harry Kane’s services, money may form a familiar backdrop. Guardiola is set to become the first manager to field a £100m footballer in the Premier League – and if he has his way then Jack Grealish will only possess the status as the division’s record signing for a few weeks. ![]() ![]() As he cited his cut-price Champions League wins, the impression he gave is that he sees them as part of football’s rich tapestry. P ep Guardiola is the big spender whose greatest triumphs came on the cheap, even if it may not make him the poster boy for penury.
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