Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has insisted his side are finding it difficult to compete with the likes of Manchester City and PSG’s spending power.
Manchester City’s squad this season has been hailed as the best in the world by many, with Guardiola bringing in 16 new players in the short time he has been at the club. PSG on the other hand have splashed £198m on Neymar from Barcelona and completed a deal for Monaco youngster Kylian Mbappe worth £166m.
And despite Mourinho already spending over £300m on players during his time at United, he believes it is not enough in order to compete.
“It is difficult [to compete] but it is possible,” said Mourinho.
“Sometimes if you don’t have that financial profile of club where there are no limits and the only thing that matters is to get the best, there is only one way which is patience, calm and time.
“I think next season we will get two or three more players. But we will lose two or three. [We are] not going to have a dramatic change or a dramatic improvement.
“When (Jurgen) Klopp arrived in Liverpool he trusted his quality as a good coach, which he is, but I think now he realises that is not enough to be a champion, to win the Champions League and to win trophies.
“So now you can see Liverpool with Naby Keita, who they have already bought for next summer, and with Virgil van Dijk, they realise they have to go to the same levels of the crazy market.
“Because if they offer £40m, Southampton don’t sell them the player. Some clubs invest with limits, some go absolutely strong in the market.
“What Paris Saint-Germain did this summer with Neymar and Mbappe, they get two of probably the four best attacking players in the world. Two at the same time. And then players like Di Maria, Draxler, Pastore, Lucas Moura – they are second choices.
“So, money makes a difference.”
Guardiola has spent around £400m since arriving at City in 2016, and Mourinho feels the Spaniard inherited a superior squad to begin with, making his spending look even more outrageous.
“The club have invested a lot of money,” Mourinho added. “The problem is not the money we have invested. The problem is the money the other clubs invest.
“It is a problem that others with better squads, with better stability, with more options – they keep on investing.
“When we are signing players in the past two years it is to replace people.
“If next summer we are going to sign a midfield player, it is to replace Michael Carrick. And Michael is a phenomenal player who this season has given us nothing at all. He is at the end of his career.
“So if next summer we buy a midfield player, it is not to improve our squad. It is to replace Carrick. To improve our squad in the midfield we would need to buy two.
“Do you think the club can spend £600m and let’s buy six players of £100m? The club cannot do that and I cannot expect the club to do that so I am not being critical.
“You can see how the market is, especially with the top teams.
“Without taking any credit from Manchester City and Pep and his staff and the players – they obviously deserve lots of credit for what they are doing – but Pep arrived and he has the goalkeeper of England. He doesn’t like him so he buys the goalkeeper of Barcelona. He doesn’t like him so he buys another one.
“Can we buy six or seven players at the same time? No. So it is difficult.”
When asked if he expects United to buy in January, Mourinho replied: “I don’t think so.”
[Quotes via Sky Sports]