Liverpool and Manchester City have been competing against each other for the biggest titles in England throughout the last decade.
Since the arrival of Pep Guardiola at the Etihad Stadium in 2016, the Manchester club have enjoyed unrivalled success; however, Liverpool have been the biggest threat to City as Jurgen Klopp helped the Reds get back to competing at the top of the Premier League table.
Klopp puts Man City’s recent success down to Guardiola, with the German coach stating last year: “If you put any other manager in that club, they don’t win the league four times in a row.”
Despite this, the legendary coach was not afraid to bring up the money Man City have spent during his time at Anfield, and now some of his comments look a little silly as Liverpool close in on the signing of Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt.
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Jürgen Klopp said Liverpool cannot compete with Man City financially
Liverpool have certainly operated differently to Man City over the years in the transfer market, as there is less scope for the Merseyside club to get things wrong.
This was the basis of Klopp’s comments about Man City before Liverpool faced the Manchester club in 2022, where the German said that no team can compete with City due to the money they spend.
“Nobody can compete with City,” the Liverpool manager said during a pre-match press conference before facing the Manchester club. “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.
“City won’t like it, nobody will like it, but you know the answer. What does Liverpool do? We cannot act like them. It’s not possible, not possible.”
The German coach would go on to say: “It’s just clear: there are three clubs in world football who can do what they want financially.
“It’s legal, everything is fine, but they can do whatever they want. Competing with them? It’s not possible to deal with that.”
Liverpool have not spent much over recent transfer windows, which has allowed them to go big during the current market, but the money the Reds are spending shows that Klopp was wrong and that there are clubs that can compete with Man City.
Liverpool beat Man City to the signing of Florian Wirtz, who cost the Merseyside club £116m. Milos Kerkez opted against joining Guardiola’s squad to move to Anfield, who cost £40m. While Jeremie Frimpong joined Arne Slot’s squad as part of a £29.5m deal.
According to Ben Jacobs, Liverpool have now agreed personal terms with Ekitike but are yet to finalise a transfer fee with Eintracht Frankfurt, which could reach £80m.
Should the signing reach the fee, that would take spending at Anfield for the summer to £265.5m, and it is unclear if the Reds will stop there.
This summer has shown that Klopp’s comments on Man City in 2022 were wrong, as Liverpool are not the only club spending this type of money, with Arsenal and Chelsea also parting ways with large sums of cash in recent transfer windows.
Most expensive signings in Premier League history
When it comes to the most expensive signings in Premier League history, Liverpool’s £116m move for Wirtz sits top; however, Man City only have two entries in the top ten.
The most a club has in the top 15 is five, which belongs to Man United, with Chelsea second with four entries.
| Player | Club | Initial Transfer Fee |
| Florian Wirtz | Liverpool | £116m |
| Enzo Fernandez | Chelsea | £106.8m |
| Jack Grealish | Man City | £100m |
| Declan Rice | Arsenal | £100m |
| Moises Caicedo | Chelsea | £100m |
The evidence on clubs not being able to compete with Man City and Guardiola is not very strong, as the Premier League’s “Big Six” are more than capable of matching the Manchester club’s spending.
Sure, City have more room to make mistakes, but Liverpool’s spending, and that of Chelsea, has now made Klopp’s previous comments look silly.
