Pep Guardiola has hit back at Antonio Conte after the Chelsea boss appeared to take a dig at Manchester City’s transfer policy.
With five games of the season remaining, the Blues have four points to play with at the top of the league while Manchester rivals City and United are in a battle to qualify for the Champions League.
The former Italy boss spent around £135million on signings last summer, with influential duo N’Golo Kante and David Luiz joining the club.
But both Manchester clubs outspent the league leaders and Conte appeared to be trying to make a point when he said: ‘I think this season it’s very important to understand that it’s not always about who spends more money who wins.’
Guardiola, whose City are fourth – one point above United – responded to the jibe by saying: ‘I agree with you. I played with Barcelona and won the Champions League with eight guys growing from the academy.
‘Zero cost to win the Champions League, that’s happened.
‘But all the clubs are going to spend a lot of money and you cannot forget all the players that Chelsea have that cost a lot of money.
‘People think that just City spend money, but all the clubs around the world, in Spain, Germany, England and Italy, they spend a lot of money.
‘This summer it is going to happen again.’
City will be looking to consolidate their place in the top four against Jose Mourinho’s Red Devils on Thursday evening.
Guardiola is hoping Spanish playmaker David Silva recovers from his minor injury that forced him off at Wembley during the defeat to Arsenal.
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