Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola controversially compared his lack of European success with Jose Mourinho’s side. ‘Roma also spent a lot of money, but they’re not in the Champions League.’
The Giallorossi earned their place in the Europa Conference League Final against Feyenoord, which will be in Tirana on May 25, thanks to a 2-1 aggregate victory over Leicester City.
After Manchester City fumbled a lead in stoppages to crash out of the Champions League semi-final against Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid, Guardiola was criticised for the relative lack of success on the continental stage.
He responded during a press conference by making a rather odd comparison.
“For me this is not a matter of money, and the fans don’t realise it,” said the former Barcelona boss.
“Roma have also spent a lot of money, but they’re not in the Champions League.”
It’s not entirely clear where he got the idea that Roma were big spenders, considering Tammy Abraham is the most expensive signing at €40m from Chelsea, but that figure is spread out over several seasons to make it more affordable.
Abraham is the second most expensive player in the history of Roma, after Patrik Schick for €42m in 2018.
This season, the Giallorossi also purchased Marash Kumbulla from Verona for €26.5m, Eldor Shomurodov from Genoa for €18m, Matias Vina from Palmeiras for €13.6m and Rui Patricio for €11.8m from Wolves.
In comparison, Manchester City spent €117.5m for Jack Grealish this summer, a player who was not deemed suitable to even start any of the Champions League knockout round games, remaining on the bench throughout three of them.