"It is not the first time he has said it in the last 5 or 6 years" - Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola takes a dig at Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has admitted that he was not surprised by Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp's comments about the Cityzens' financial power in the transfer market.

A week has passed since Liverpool beat Manchester City 1-0 in the Premier League at Anfield. However, Klopp's comments about the Cityzens, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Newcastle United before the game continue to be a hot topic of discussion. He said [via Mirror]:

"There are three clubs in world football who can do what they want financially. It's legal and everything, fine, but they can do what they want. They will say 'yeah but we have...' but it's exactly the fact."

Klopp's statement appears to have upset Manchester City, who anonymously suggested the German is a xenophobe. The Liverpool manager has since brushed aside those accusations.

However, Guardiola has now aimed a dig at Klopp by claiming he was not surprised by his Reds counterpart's comments. The Manchester City boss pointed out how the 55-year-old has made similar statements about his team in the past. He said [via The Daily Telegraph]:

“Firstly, it’s not a surprise because it is not the first he has said it in the last five or six years."

Pep Guardiola on Klopp's criticism of Manchester City spending: “I want to say that it’s not a surprise because it is not the first time he has said it”. 🔵 #MCFC https://t.co/QaLNS9h02q

It now remains to be seen if Klopp has anything to say in response to Guardiola's comments about him.

Manchester City boss Guardiola says he believes more in Liverpool than Klopp

While the Reds have won their last two games against Manchester City and West Ham, they have had a poor start to the season. They currently sit seventh in the Premier League and are 11 points behind table-toppers Arsenal.

The Anfield outfit's poor form prompted Klopp to rule his side out of this season's title race earlier this month. However, Guardiola took aim at the German once again by stating that he believes in the Merseyside-based club more than their own manager. He said:

“It looks like with my statement I believe more in the Liverpool team than their manager. It’s just 10 fixtures gone, the World Cup in the middle and a lot of games to play, Europe involved and cup competitions involved, injuries involved."

"I said before, when we have six or seven games left, yes. When it is just 10 games, one thousand million things can happen.”

🚨 NEW: Pep Guardiola says he has more faith in Liverpool’s title challenge than Jurgen Klopp. #lfc [telegraph]

While Klopp's side sit six places below top spot, Guardiola and Co. are placed second in the table and are just three points behind the Gunners.