Pep Guardiola outlines Man City factor to overtaking Manchester United

Pep Guardiola has outlined the key advantage that has seen Manchester City outstrip Manchester United in recent years - despite being out-spent by the Reds. United have the world’s most expensive squad but are stuck in a fight for a placed in the Premier League top four, and have already crashed out of the Champions League and FA Cup.

City, by stark contrast, sit on top of the table, face an FA Cup quarter-final at Southampton on Sunday and will take on United’s European conquerors Atletico Madrid in the quarter-finals in just over a fortnight. Guardiola shied away from any comparisons between the two Manchester clubs, but outlined what he felt City have done well in recent seasons - which is clearly something United have done poorly.

And he pointed out that City’s spending, despite what many critics say, is not a new phenomenon - it has always been the case that English football has been dominated by the richest clubs: “It's not about comparing, I'm not there and don't know why (United have not been performing),” he said. “United under Ferguson winning titles spent more than Chelsea.

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“It's not an exception - there are exceptions because football is so nice,” he added, in a reference to oddities like Leicester and Blackburn winning the title. Sometimes teams don't deserve but are able to do it but football is the best for that.”

He then nailed the central point of why City have been better than United - they have been working to a plan for years, with a football director and chief executive in harmony, plotting towards the moment when Guardiola would take charge. And even after the Catalan arrived, they are all on the same hymn sheet - players