Arsenal, Man City and Liverpool's 5-year net spend compared as Guardiola makes sarcastic Arteta and Slot quip

Pep Guardiola has been speaking about Arsenal and their spending as he prepares to take on old friend Mikel Arteta. City have not had an ideal start to the season, currently three points behind Arsenal in second as they prepare to face them on Sunday.

The Gunners spent heavily again in the summer, with more than £250million spent on new players, while Liverpool also racked up a huge spending figure, and Manchester City also played their part in a summer of massive spending collectively from the Premier League.

Arsenal outperformed City last season but still fell short to Liverpool, and the expectations are raising again at the Emirates Stadium this season, which is inevitable when such spending takes place.

Guardiola is no stranger to that added pressure, and he referenced Arsenal in his press conference. He sarcastically said: “Only I want to say to my friend Mikel Arteta, if he wins the title it will be just because he spent, not because he worked a lot or his players. It’s like Liverpool. If Arne [Slot] wins again, it will be because he spent a lot of money. Right? Because it’s not just at Man City that happened, right? So for all of them.”

When the sarcasm wore off, Guardiola added: “They spent what they believe they can to compete against the best teams in the Premier League and Europe, and they’ve reached that level,. They don’t make mistakes in the back. They have pace in front, they have of course set-pieces with Nico Jover. So it’s in every department,”

Spending compared

With the help of Transfermarkt, a look at the spending in the Premier League over the last five years shows Arsenal are ahead of Manchester City and Liverpool when it comes to net spent. City have spent €351.33million after sales, while Liverpool have spent €432.28m and Arsenal as much as €636.81million.

In fact, only Chelsea, with a net spend of €794.09m and Manchester United (€672.02m) have a bigger net spending over that five-season period. But history has shown that money does not guarantee success, especially in the Premier League and Champions League, and it does take the right manage to put it all together.

Guardiola has mastered that, and Arteta is yet to as pressure begins to build amid an ongoing league title drought at the Emirates Stadium.

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