Arteta comparison 

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Manchester City have completed the signing of Antoine Semenyo for €72 million in the biggest deal of the January window so far. Despite interest from rival Premier League clubs, Pep Guardiola has got his man to strengthen his attacking options as they aim to catch Arsenal in the title race. It’s an eye-watering fee for the Bournemouth star and it has firmly placed Guardiola’s spending at Man City under the spotlight.

The Spaniard is unquestionably one of the greatest managers of all-time and many believe that he’s surpassed the achievements of any of his peers across history. Guardiola’s trophy collection is almost unrivalled but he’s also revolutionised modern football with his tactical philosophy. The only cloud over Guardiola’s remarkable success in England has been how much money he’s spent in the transfer market and the signing of Semenyo means the former Barcelona manager’s total outlay has surpassed the €2 billion threshold.

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City spending surpasses €2billion threshold

Since his appointment at Man City in 2016, Guardiola has been backed heavily in the transfer market by the club’s hierarchy, to the tune of €2.03b. Semenyo’s arrival pushed his total outlay at City beyond the €2b milestone, although his net spend of €1.1b remains lower than Manchester United and Arsenal. As the graphic below illustrates, Guardiola’s spending since joining Man City is significantly higher than any other manager across that time period.

Jack Grealish remains his record signing at €117.5m but it’s a sign of City’s immense spending power that Semenyo has been signed to play left-wing when Omar Marmoush only joined last January for €75m. Diego Simeone ranks second after spending €1.22b since the summer of 2016, with Mikel Arteta the only manager in the top ten list to have amassed his spending total at one club. Furthermore, Guardiola is the only coach in history to spend more than €2bn with José Mourinho second and close to surpassing that threshold at €1.99b.