"Complain for everything" - Pep Guardiola takes cheeky dig at Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp for Saudi Arabian transfer comments
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola recently took a subtle dig at his Liverpool counterpart Jurgen Klopp for complaining about the exodus of top players to the Saudi Premier League.
Since superstar Cristiano Ronaldo's arrival at Al-Nassr in December, a host of big-name players from European football have followed suit. That includes the likes of Karim Benzema, Sergei Milinkovic-Savic, Fabinho, Jordan Henderson, and Roberto Firmino. The latter three played for Klopp last season.
Firmino joined Al Ahli; Henderson signed for Al-Ettifaq, and Fabinho joined Al-Ittihad. Klopp is particularly critical of the fact that the SPL transfer window closes six days after September 1, when most European windows shut down.
Guardiola, though, offered a different take on the situation, criticising the hypocrisy, as most clubs 'roll out the red carpet' to the SPL but bemoan the loss of key players in the cash-rich league. The City boss said (as per ECHO):
"Everyone complains about Saudi Arabia, but when Saudi Arabia knocks on the door, all clubs open the door, red carpet....."
"They say, 'what do you want my friend? I'll sell everything!'... So happy! Ah... complain for everything, but everyone opens the door!” he added.
"I'm really happy with our transfer window in this moment" - Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp
Liverpool haven't had too many incomings this summer, signing Alexis Mac Alister (€42 million), Dominik Szoboszlai (€70 million) and Wataru Endu (€19 million).
The Reds lost out to Chelsea in the pursuit of midfielder Moises Caicedo, who joined from Brighton & Hove Albion on a British record £115 million deal. Southampton's Romeo Lavia (€62 million), another Reds target, also landed in Stamford Bridge instead.
Nevertheless, Jurgen Klopp is seemingly pleased with the transfer business of his club despite the two snubs. He said (as quoted by Goal):
"You just have to make sure you go for the right ones. I sit here, and I'm really happy with our transfer window in this moment."
"We will keep looking, we will try to make the best decisions for this club, and we will not use money or anything else as an excuse. We will just go for it. We do it our way and we are ready to fight," he added.
Liverpool will take on Bournemouth at Anfield on Saturday, August 19 in their first Premier League home game of the season.