Pep Guardiola is ‘restless’ amid Man City outburst – ‘This is another sign’
Pep Guardiola is “restless in his own mind” following his comments around Manchester City’s spending.
That is according to former Everton, Aston Villa and Aberdeen chief executive Keith Wyness, who exclusively told Football Insider Man City have backed the Catalan boss with “whatever he’s wanted” at the Etihad Stadium.
Speaking in a press conference last week, Guardiola compared his side’s net spend to other Premier League clubs over the past five years.
“I am a little bit sad and upset because in net spend the last five years we are seventh in the Premier League,” he said.
“I want to be the first, I don’t understand why the club don’t spend more money. I am a little bit grumpy with them.”
Why Man City are doing a ‘great job’ after spending reveal
FIFA’s Global Transfer Report has revealed Man City spent the most money on international transfers across European clubs in 2025.
Meanwhile, the Manchester giants signed Antoine Semenyo for £64million from Bournemouth and Marc Guehi in a £20m deal from Crystal Palace in the latest January transfer window.
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness discussed Guardiola’s comments around net spend.
“It was a bit of a ramble where a lot of subjects were covered and it did come out of the blue to a great extent from Pep,” said Wyness.
“I think people knew that he’s privately and personally had issues, sort of had views on certain issues. But this seemed to be a little bit unusual and the timing didn’t seem to make much sense in terms of the way he’d handled it.
“But the net-spend issue, look, I think that is a bit of tongue in cheek. I think City have always been there to back him whatever he’s wanted. They’ve been well run. Ferran Soriano has done a superb job with City and they’ve always had the players to sell.
“Therefore, the net spend is really to be applauded because it means that they’re not the biggest net spenders. The worst net spenders are the ones that aren’t being run correctly, so I think City are doing a great job.”
Why Pep Guardiola spending claim came at ‘strange time’
Wyness suggested there could be deeper issues behind Guardiola’s comments around Man City’s spending.
“For Pep, it’s just another signal, another sign of somebody who seems a bit restless in his own mind right now and just doesn’t seem entirely at peace with himself,” said Wyness.
“I’m no psychoanalyst, but it just seems strange timing for the whole thing to come out.
“But hey, the personalities are part of the soap opera that we love and Pep is without doubt one of the great players in this soap opera and has proven to be a real superstar in terms of management. We all respect him for many things he’s done.”
Man City have won 18 trophies since Guardiola arrived at the Etihad in 2016, while he is looking to add to that total this season.
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