Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola claims it is more important for the club to sign the right kind of players, rather than splashing the cash on mega-money 'trophy' signings.
The Citizens do not have a player in the 20 most expensive signings in world football, despite making several high profile investments over the last decade.
City have been the Premier League's biggest spenders over the past five years, but Guardiola - speaking before the Manchester derby with rivals United (via the Mirror) - claims the numbers speak for themselves when it comes to big money signings, hinting that the club's reputation is perhaps misplaced.
“They say, ‘That’s just Man City spending money’ but, of course it is not true. You just have to see the numbers."
Signed from Atletico Madrid last year, Spanish midfielder Rodri is the club's record signing at £63m - but that fee puts him just 23rd on the list of most expensive transfer fees. Guardiola, however, is adamant that he won't break that record for the sake of it, and will instead pursue players who fit in with his footballing ethos.
Guardiola continued: “Maybe one day it will happen, maybe not. The important thing is to buy good players who fit in to the way you want to play," he continued. “The important thing is to take all the information about the player to reduce the uncertainty of a player being at a new club.
“Manchester City didn’t spend that kind of money so far, but maybe in the future it will do it, so right now I don’t know."
Neighbourhood rivals Manchester United, meanwhile, have been the team to splash the cash on major signings in recent years. Last summer, the Red Devils forked out £80m for defender Harry Maguire from Leicester, and have previously paid out £89m for Paul Pogba and £75m for Romelu Lukaku.
Source : 90min