Pep Guardiola launches attack on big-spending Chelsea after huge January transfer window

Chelsea have now spent £550m since Todd Boehly’s consortium purchased the west London club last May. They capped the January window with the British-record arrival of £107m signing Enzo Fernandez, having spent £88m on Mykhaylo Mudryk, £34m on Benoit Badiashile, £30m on Noni Madueke, in addition to a host of big-money young talent.

Premier League rivals have questioned Chelsea’s ability to spend such drastic sums of money. Man City head coach Guardiola is the latest to aim a stinging dig at the Stamford Bridge hierarchy.

Referencing clubs who angled for City to be banned from the Champions League in 2020, Guardiola has suggested that there is hypocrisy over how his club’s spending is talked about compared to Chelsea’s.

Asked about the Blues’ transfer approach, Guardiola said: “None of my business. It’s a surprise because it’s not a state club. We won 11 titles in the last five years being one of the five or six net spend teams in the league.”

And quizzed on what the reaction would be if City did the same, Guardiola complained: “I know what would happen. What I said, being the last fifth or sixth in the Premier League being net spending, we won 11 trophies – four Premier Leagues in five years.

“What Chelsea have done is none of my business. We know what we are working to. What Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, United, without good players you have to spend. Now the market is wow. What they do is not my business. There are regulations, I don’t forget, eight or nine teams send a letter [for City] to be banned [from the Champions League]. We are the fifth team in net spend.”

In February 2020, City were handed a two-year Champions League ban by UEFA after a lengthy investigation by the governing body’s Club Financial Control Body found the Etihad Stadium outfit guilty of falsely inflating their sponsorship revenues when submitting accounts as part of the Financial Fair Play compliance process.

However, City won an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and had their suspension overturned. According to the Evening Standard, Chelsea are on a UEFA ‘watch list’ over their huge spending. The Blues hope that amortising their huge fees over long contract lengths will help them steer clear of punishment.

Failure to qualify for the Champions League could still see them punished, though. Graham Potter’s side are 10th in the Premier League and on Friday night they face local rivals Fulham, who defeated the Blues last month.

Chelsea now have a monstrous squad of 33 players having welcomed 16 new arrivals over the last six months. Potter said of keeping everyone happy: “I think challenge is the right word but I’m not complaining about it.

“It’s exciting and a test for me, of course, and the staff. But it’s an exciting one. We’ve got a lot of really good players and we have to create an environment where there is healthy competition and players can push each other.”