'Have to assume' - Ferran Soriano sends transfer message to Man City fans over strategy

Manchester City have not changed their transfer strategy despite an unusual summer, according to their chief executive.

In the Premier League, no other club spent less than the Blues did with their outlay on Savinho (£21m potentially rising to £33.6m), Ilkay Gundogan (free) and Divin Mubama (up to £2m) their lowest spend since 2006. With over £150m banked in sales thanks in large part to the £82m departure of Julian Alvarez, City also recorded an enormous profit.

If the sales continued a trend of recent years, City's comparatively small investing raised questions, particularly with the hearing into Premier League charges looming and the long-term futures of Pep Guardiola and sporting director Txiki Begiristain in the air. Guardiola suggested as the window was closing that City would likely have to spend more heavily in future years as a result of not going big this time.

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That is something the club is open to doing, according to CEO Ferran Soriano, as he explained that their profit was not an ambition that they are seeking above all else. While that money does help to make the club financially sustainable, Soriano says the priority remains to have a squad capable of winning things.

"We got a good offer and we had an extraordinary profit but we were not counting on it,” he told the FT. “This is important because for Manchester City the objective is to win and to be financially sustainable. It’s not to make an extraordinary profit every year. We have to assume this has ups and downs.”

He added: “Our financial situation is very stable because our football