'Man United don't do it, Barcelona don't do it' - Man City boardroom discussion on player salaries and contract decisions

The latest episode of Manchester City's behind-the-scenes documentary gives an incredible insight into the club's decision-making on player contract renewals and salary decisions.

In the fourth episode of City's 'Together: Champions Again' series, documenting the club's title-winning campaign of 2021/22, City sporting director, Txiki Begiristain, and chief football operations officer, Omar Berrada, are filmed discussing the state of the club's squad compared to rivals around Europe.

In the lengthy conversation, Begiristain appears in disbelief at the number of elite players at top clubs running down their contracts like Paul Pogba or Kylian Mbappe, while the pair discuss the amount City spend on salaries compared to the likes of Manchester United, Barcelona and Real Madrid.

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The clip of the meeting, filmed by camera operators in the room, begins with the pair looking at a screen (blurred out for the documentary) of players in the final year of their contracts.

"We have the list on the left of Mbappe, Pogba, Dybala, Rudiger," Berrada says. "All of them are reaching the last months of their contract. You didn't see that in the past."

Begiristain replies: "If you told me 10 years ago that players like Mbappe, Pogba. Look at what clubs we're talking about. We're talking about PSG. See smaller teams not letting players go? It's easier for the player to assume the risk. But for a player to assume the risk of ending his contract and by this I mean, you suffer an injury?

"You suffer an injury and nobody will sign you. But you're talking about PSG players, and Manchester United, Juventus, Milan, Inter, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Barca, oh