Is Antoine Semenyo a parting gift from Manchester City to Pep Guardiola?
Yet more big spending by the Man City manager as he looks to go out on a high...
The signing of Antoine Semenyo means Pep Guardiola’s spending as Manchester City manager now stands at over €2bn.
The Spanish tactician is undoubtedly one of the greatest managers of all time, but it’s also worth noting that the resources he’s been able to work with at Man City will surely always leave a big asterisk by his career.
See below for how Guardiola’s spending at City compares to other managers since he took the job at the Etihad Stadium almost ten years ago...
Guardiola’s total spending is €2.03bn, which is a lot higher than Diego Simeone at Atletico Madrid in second place with €1.22bn.
The City boss has certainly been in a pretty privileged position compared to most other managers, though he’s also surely shown he’s more than worth that kind of financial backing.
Pep Guardiola’s spending has consistently delivered trophies
Even if Pep tends to spend with the kind of relaxation and freedom of someone enjoying the benefits of Flexepin UK on Eneba, he has always got the best out of the players he’s signed, and delivered trophies for his clubs.
Take someone like Rodri, for example, who moved to City from Atletico Madrid for around £62m, which is less than the £70m Manchester United paid for an ageing and over-the-hill Casemiro. The Spain international did not initially look like the most eye-catching signing, but ended up being someone crucially important to City, and even going on to win the Ballon d’Or.
For all his big spending, Guardiola gets the best out of players, and his teams are, more often than not, about more than just being a collection of individuals.
At their peak in that treble-winning season, the intricate style of football was impossible even for other expensively-assembled teams, such as Champions League opponents Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, to even come close to stopping.
Can Manchester City lift another title in Guardiola’s final season?
Speculation is hotting up that this will be Guardiola’s final season in charge of MCFC, though this has not yet been confirmed.
The signing of a big talent like Semenyo, as well as links with Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi, perhaps show Guardiola is serious about going out on a high if this is to be the end to his legendary career in the Premier League.
They trail league leaders Arsenal by six points for now, but another thing that Guardiola does so well, which money can’t buy, is instil a tremendous belief in his players.
They’ve come from behind in title races before, and with Guardiola at the helm you’d be brave to write them off until it’s absolutely mathematically impossible for them to stage a comeback.