«No more years of hurt (No more years of pain)». In the catacombs of the Etihad Stadium the past is not forgotten. The phrases extolling the titles of Manchester City's golden era under Abu Dhabi's rule and Pep Guardiola's leadership also recall some terrible decades in which the club was nothing more than a distant shadow of United, set back to the East of a city that only lived and felt the red of Old Trafford. Fate was not a citizen and the fans got used to it. That is why now that he is sailing on success, the slogans that fill the walls of his stadium are relief and not ambition.. And for this reason, a few hours after playing the Champions League against Madrid, at City, a club that before Arab money was part of the middle zone of the Premier and now accumulates more than a billion spent on transfers in the last 7 seasons , we speak of “dream” and not of “pressure”. “We are not satisfied, but it is that look where we come from,” a source commented to this newspaper.
“The mentality has been the most difficult to change,” they insist. And it is understood by observing the man who has changed almost everything. The words and decisions of Guardiola, who has spent more years on the Manchester bench than in Barcelona, are the style book of a club bent on his wishes. And Pep, aware of everything, is one before the press and another in the offices. And that is why his fans do not finish demanding what he, his board and his squad do have between their eyebrows: the Champions League.
Yesterday, sitting at the press conference for another continental semifinal, Guardiola once again kept a low profile. “It's a dream to be here”, “my legacy is already exceptional, they've had a hell of a time with us here”, “you don't have to put so much pressure on yourself”.. But before, Kyle Walker unconsciously contradicted him: “The investment of the owners has been very high. We owe them the Champions League”. Guardiola, one of the best coaches in history, has been dancing on this contradiction since 2010, key to understanding football in the 21st century.. And one of the technicians whose teams have spent the most in the last decade.
Guardiola: “If I knew Real Madrid's method, I would copy it” “Academy vs. portfolio”, the start
They will remember the years of the “quarry against portfolio”. Spanish football was divided, as always, between Barcelona and Madrid and the football reality proclaimed a slogan that stuck with an entire generation. Barça de Guardiola, Messi and the best fifth in the history of La Masía ruled Europe while on the other side of the airlift, Florentino left more than 200 million in a single summer between Cristiano, Kaká, Benzema and Xabi Alonso to rebuild a Madrid injured. The phrase made sense at the time, but time and its protagonists have adulterated it to the point of almost harming themselves, including Guardiola himself, who a decade and 1,000 million after leaving the Camp Nou crosses paths with Madrid again.
“We cannot beat Madrid at zero, but we will try to gain enthusiasm,” said the man from Santpedor in the midst of a media battle with Mourinho. Guardiola left Barça after winning 14 titles, including 2 Champions and 3 Leagues. An extraordinary domain that Barça has not touched again. The coach changed Barcelona for Munich and Manchester, where he is about to win his 5th Premier, another national success. However, and although he did not promulgate it, the construction of the citizen dynasty since 2016 has been very different from the approach he defended at the Camp Nou.
A negative balance: 666 million
The reality and the need for titles for the sheikhs, who have seen City fall in the Champions League against Monaco (eighth 2017), Liverpool (fourth), Tottenham (fourth), Lyon (fourth), Chelsea (final) and Madrid (semi) , they have pushed Guardiola to seven years of sidereal spending, but Santpedor's has not moved away from his speech. “We cannot afford to spend like others do,” he said in 2018. “With these prices, we cannot afford a striker,” he insisted in 2021. “There are many clubs that have gone crazy investing and doing things just for the Champions League,” he repeated last week.
Guardiola has maintained the argument of a supposed economic weakness on his side, but the data offer a totally different version. Since the coach's arrival in Manchester in 2016, City is the fourth club that has spent the most on transfers, 1,240 million euros, and accumulates a negative balance between income and expenses of 666 million, the third in the world behind Manchester United (-901) and Chelsea (-805).
The eleven of Madrid cost less than half
Opposite, in that period Madrid is the 13th on the planet in expenses (706 million) and the 146th if we take into account the accumulated balance with income. While the greats of English football are close to a billion negative balance since 2016, the white team is positive, with a profit of 10 million in these years.
Guardiola has signed Stones for 55 million, Walker for 52, Rodri for 70, Grealish for 118, Haaland for 60…. His starting eleven has cost 687 million, for the 278, less than half, that Madrid has spent on its gala lineup, with Militao's 50 million as the highest transfer figure.