Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has made it clear that he does not like the way Manchester City operate because it makes the Premier League uncompetitive.
City have enjoyed a massive rise to the top of English football following continued investment over a number of years. They began to see the fruits of their labour in 2012 with a first Premier League title.
Now, though, they are chasing a seventh such crown – and the fifth under Pep Guardiola.
Man City have been chased all the way for two of their recent titles by Liverpool. Indeed, the pair fought right until the end to both achieve 90-plus point tallies, with Guardiola’s side nicking both titles by a point.
And while City have moved up another gear with the signing of Erling Haaland – despite selling Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling this summer – Liverpool have dropped off.
Klopp has subsequently admitted that he is not a fan of how City operate in their quest for glory.
“You will not like the answer, and you all have the answer already,” Klopp said when asked about the differing strategies at City and Liverpool.
“Nobody can compete with City. You have the best team in the world and you put in the best striker on the market, no matter what it costs, you just do it.
“I know City will not like it, nobody will like it. You’ve asked the question but you know the answer.”
Klopp hits out at Man City, Newcastle
Man City owner Sheikh Mansour is one of the Middle East’s most powerful men, hence the sizeable investment at the Etihad Stadium.
But, Newcastle also enjoyed a massive takeover last year in a consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). Paris Saint-Germain, meanwhile, enjoy backing from Qatar.
And Klopp has admitted that the Reds’ Fenway Sports Group (FSG) owners cannot even think about acting the same way.
“What does Liverpool do? We cannot act like them. It is not possible. Not possible,” the manager added in his press conference ahead of Sunday’s clash with City.
“It is just clear and again you know the answer. There are three clubs in world football who can do what they want financially. It’s legal and everything, fine, but they can do what they want. They will say ‘yeah but we have…’ but it’s exactly the fact.
I heard now that at Newcastle somebody [sporting director Dan Ashworth] said ‘there is no ceiling for this club’. Yes! He is right. He is absolutely right. There is no ceiling for Newcastle. Congratulations, but other clubs have ceilings.”
Liverpool success has to be put in perspective
There is no doubt about it, Klopp has done a magnificent job with the resources at his disposal compared to at City.
Yes, the Reds have spent big on players such as Darwin Nunez, but sell to buy is their mantra. And so Sadio Mane, Takumi Minamino and Neco Williams all left this summer to fund Nunez.
Back in 2018, Klopp revolutionised his team with Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk, thanks to Barcelona’s £100million-plus signing of Philippe Coutinho.
City did operate on a similar basis this summer by selling two of their star forwards for over £40million each.
However, there is definitely still a massive gap between how the two clubs operate – and that will not change.