Pep Guardiola believes Arsenal receive more lenient treatment over their transfer expenditure compared to Manchester City as the two clubs gear up for another encounter this weekend.

City and Arsenal have cultivated an increasingly acrimonious relationship both on and off the field in recent seasons, with Guardiola highlighting the Gunners’ £300million summer outlay to illustrate how they face different scrutiny when opening their chequebook.

Arsenal’s transfer window brought their total expenditure since summer 2021 to over £900million, which narrowly exceeds City’s spending during the same timeframe.

Also Read: For Me Guardiola’s The Best Coach In The World –Arteta

However, whilst Guardiola’s squad has accumulated trophies, Arsenal remain empty-handed, prompting the Blues manager to deploy sarcasm in making his argument.

“I want to say to my friend Mikel Arteta, if he wins the title, it will be just because he spent, not because he worked a lot or his players.

“It’s like Liverpool. If Arne (Slot) wins again, it will be because he spent a lot of money. Right? Because it’s not just Man City that happened. It’s for all of them.”, reports the Manchester Evening News (via football.london).

“Every club can do whatever they want. I know how they’ve been treated is completely different, but what he wants to spend is because they want it and it’s fine. All I can say is they have been wise. They spent what they believe they can to compete against the best teams in the Premier League and Europe.”

Arsenal have splashed out over £48million this summer to bring in four new faces – Martin Zubimendi, Eberechi Eze, Viktor Gyokeres and Noni Madueke – as they aim to clinch their first title in 22 years.