£216m money well spent – Pep

LONDON: Manager Pep Guardiola has defended Manchester City’s English summer spending spree as being dictated by market values. City have brought in five players at a reported cost of £216-million as they look to rebound from a disappointing third-place finish last season. And with more than a month until the August 31 transfer deadline it’s likely they’ll surpass Real Madrid’s record layout of £219m in 2009. “I could not imagine years ago, even two or three years ago, paying £100 million or £120 million for one player, now it has happened and will happen more,” Guardiola told a news conference on City’s pre-season tour of the United States. “It’s a lot. I would like to pay less for the club, for everybody but the market is the market. “All the clubs spent a lot of money not just us.” City signed Monaco defender Benjamin Mendy on Monday for £52m. He follows right-back Kyle Walker, goalkeeper Ederson Moraes, defender Danilo and midfielder Bernardo Silva as new additions as Guardiola looks to strengthen a defence that was lacking at times last season. “We had four full-backs and Manchester City didn’t invest in a fullback for the last seven years,” the Spaniard said. “All four were 31 or 32 and we decided we had to make the squad younger.” City are currently linked with two of the biggest names on the market – Arsenal’s top-scorer Alexis Sanchez and Monaco’s teen sensation Kylian Mbappe. Guardiola, though, wasn’t tipping his hand on any further additions. “They are Monaco and Arsenal players, so nothing to say,” he said. “We have the two exceptional forwards in Gabriel (Jesus) and Sergio (Aguero). “We will see until the end of the transfer window.”