05/02/2026

SPORTS THURSDAY | FEB 5, 2026

30

City manager Guardiola takes swipe at big-spending rivals PEP GUARDIOLA used sarcasm and statistics to defend Manchester City against claims the club’s success is down to money. club don’t spend more money! I am a little bit grumpy with them!

last season, but have claimed six of the past nine Premier League titles. City have broken the £100 million (RM540m) mark once in their history to sign Jack Grealish from Aston Villa in 2022. But the club have recouped cash astutely in recent years, making more than £250 million (RM1.35b) from the sale of academy prod ucts alone since 2020. Argentina forward Julian Alvarez joined Atletico Madrid from City in 2024 for a record £81.5 million (RM440m), while Raheem Sterling’s move to Chelsea the previous summer fetched the club £50 million (RM270m). – The Independent/Agencies

expenditure are given an easier ride. In terms of net spend, the latest deals took City’s outlay over the past five years to £396 million (RM2.14b), behind Manchester United (£675m/RM3.65b), Arsenal (£663m/RM3.58b), Chelsea (£651m/RM3.52b), Tottenham (£574m/RM3.1b), Newcastle (£424m/RM2.29b) and Liverpool (£420m/RM2.29b), according to figures from Transfermarkt . Guardiola said: “I’m a little bit sad and upset because in net spend the last five years we are sev enth in the Premier League. “I want to be the first, I don’t understand why the

“But, like we won in the past because we spent a lot, now six teams have to win the Premier Leagues, Champions Leagues and FA Cups because they spent more in the last five years. “These are facts. It’s not an opinion. You can say an opinion, like you say we played good or bad against Spurs – we can agree or disagree. “But they are facts. Good luck to the six teams who are in front of us for net spend for the last five years. Let’s go. I’m waiting.” Guardiola and City failed to win a major trophy

The City manager pointed out six rival clubs have outspent his over the past five years and chal lenged them to better his team on the field. City spent £82.5 million (RM445.5m) to bolster their squad in the January transfer window with the signings of Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi, con tinuing a squad overhaul that began last year. Guardiola feels there is a perception City will continue splashing out in pursuit of the success they crave, while other clubs with larger recent

Lame Blues Merson criticises Chelsea approach in Carabao Cup loss

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Ű BY CHRIS WILSON Chelsea’s Estevao (2nd right) is fouled by Arsenal’s Piero Hincapie (2nd left) and Gabriel Magalhaes (right) during the Carabao Cup match yesterday. – AFPPIC

improvements” and emphasising how his team “needed to make sure we gave our selves the best chance”. “I felt we dominated in the second half, the game just didn’t go the way we wanted it to. There are many aspects to football, tactical, psychological, physical, and also the players available to you. “We can’t speak about how the game plan went because the result didn’t go the way we wanted it to,” he explained. But fellow Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp agreed with Merson, calling the game “a tough watch”. “I could see what the plan was from Chelsea to stay in the game and then bring on the big guns. But it didn’t hap pen. Arsenal weren’t at their best but were comfortable,” explained the former Liverpool man. “Even the way they managed it in the end, they lost that pattern of play, they didn’t really find a way to get that urgency or the quality. “I feel that in semifinals it’s just a com pletely different thing altogether, you’ve got to throw caution to the wind, you’ve got to get the ball into the box, you’ve got to be thinking ‘no regrets after this game.’ “And I think, as Paul rightly said, there’ll be a lot of regrets in that dressing room thinking, ‘we didn’t do enough,’” added Redknapp. Rosenior has been at Stamford Bridge for just under a month, and while his side are out of the League Cup, the Blues are still in the hunt for top four in the Premier League and have qualified in the top eight of the Champions League, with a last-16 knockout tie to come in March. – The Independent

F ORMER Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson has criticised Chelsea’s approach in the 1-0 loss to the Gunners in the second leg of their Carabao Cup semifinal, with the Sky Sports pundit saying he was “flabber gasted” at what he saw. Chelsea travelled to the Emirates trail ing by one goal after losing the first leg at Stamford Bridge, and while the Blues lim ited Arsenal in attack throughout the sec ond leg they offered precious little in attack, with few clear-cut chances and lit tle pressure despite needing to chase the game. The visitors had just two shots on tar get all game, waiting until added time to apply pressure before eventually conced ing a late goal as Kai Havertz sealed the tie late on, and Merson explained he was shocked with the Chelsea approach. “I’m flabbergasted. I can’t believe what I’ve just watched. Chelsea have World Cup winners, this is not a bottom-five team,” said Merson. “(Wesley) Fofana is crying. He should be crying because they never had a go. They’ve gone out with a whimper in a semifinal. It hasn’t worked. Go out in a blaze of glory, don’t go out like that. “They’ve got the players to mix it with Arsenal, and they didn’t have a go. I’ve played in games like that, and you come off and think, ‘we just got beaten and we’ve not really had a go.’ They’ll be for ever thinking about that in their foot balling careers,” added the 57-year-old. Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior defended the approach, saying there were “clear

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