Man City & Man Utd's net spend during Pep Guardiola's reign is eye-opening | OneFootball

Manchester City emulated the Manchester United team of 1999 on Saturday night by winning a treble of trophies after defeating Inter Milan in Istanbul to lift the Champions League.

Having already raised the Premier League and FA Cup in recent weeks, City made it a hat-trick of major honours this season, thanks to Rodri's fine second-half strike at the Alturk Stadium.

After matching United's trophy haul under Sir Alex Ferguson during the 1998/99 season, it was inevitable that comparisons were going to be drawn between the two all-conquering sides.

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Many United fans, though, have been quick to suggest that City's treble shouldn't be looked at in the same light as Ferguson's 1999 effort - due to the amount of money that Pep Guardiola has spent to achieve the same success.

It's an argument that Guardiola has long taken issue with, arguing that his side is far from unique when it comes to spending money in the pursuit of glory.

"I’m a good manager but I don’t win titles if I don’t have good players and good players are expensive. All the clubs spend a lot of money: Barcelona spend a lot of money, Madrid spend a lot of money, English teams spend a lot of money," insisted the Spaniard back in 2020.

When it comes to Man United, though, does Pep have a point? Just how do the two Manchester clubs compare when it comes to their net spend in the transfer market since Guardiola arrived at the Etihad Stadium in the summer of 2016?

For those who are not familar with the term, 'net spend' is the overall amount spent when taking transfer fees paid and deducting transfer fees received over a particular period.

Below - via Planet Football - is an in depth look at the net spend of both sides over the last seven years - and it makes for interesting reading.

Manchester City's net spend since 2016/17

Five largest purchases

1. Jack Grealish – £105.8million

2. Ruben Dias – £61.2million

3. Riyad Mahrez – £61million

4. Joao Cancelo – £58.5million

5. Aymeric Laporte – £58.5million

Five largest sales

1. Leroy Sane – £54million

2. Raheem Sterling – £50.9million

3. Ferran Torres – £49.5million

4. Gabriel Jesus – £47million

5. Danilo – £33.3million

Total Spent: £1.074billion

Total Sold: £596million

Total Net Spend: £478million

Manchester United's net spend since 2016/17

Five largest purchases

1. Paul Pogba – £94.50million

2. Antony – £86million

3. Harry Maguire – £78.30million

4. Jadon Sancho – £76.5million

5. Romelu Lukaku – £76.23million

Five Largest Sales

1. Romelu Lukaku – £66.60million

2. Henrikh Mkhitaryan – £30.60million

3. Daniel James – £26.19million

4. Morgan Schneiderlin – £20.70million

=5. Memphis Depay – £14.40million

=5. Daley Blind – £14.40million

Total Spent: £1.077billion

Total Sold: £242million

Total Net Spend: £835million

Despite having a reputation as big spenders, City's net spend during Guardiola's reign actually comes in at a massive £357m less than that of United.

A big chunk of that difference is accounted for by the fact that City have had a far greater turnover rate within their squad than United, selling nearly £600m worth of players in the period, compared with just £242m for United.

And while City's £105.8m purchase of Jack Grealish was the largest individual transfer in the period, the next four biggest sums paid all belonged to United.

Featuring names such as Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku - who have been since left the club - these deals didn't exactly prove to be great business for the Red Devils.

In terms of total purchases alone, United have marginally outspent City too, suggesting that it's probably time to put the 'Guardiola bought the treble' argument to bed.

Yes, the club have spent money - and a lot of it - but there's far more to Guardiola's dominance than just blind spending.