The coach insists the English giants did not have enough money to buy Thomas Muller, Arjen Robben and Bastian Schweinsteiger and clubs should learn from their recent mistakes
Pep Guardiola says Manchester United cannot afford to buy Bayern Munich’s star players and believes their decline should serve as a lesson to other clubs in Europe.
United have been a perennial giant in English and European football under Sir Alex Ferguson, but the Scot’s retirement at the end of the 2012-13 season has seen them go downhill rapidly.
Louis van Gaal was rumoured to be chasing three Bayern Munich players as he looked to add to bolster his squad, with Arjen Robben, Thomas Muller and Bastian Schweinsteiger all linked.
Muller recently hinted that he turned down “astronomical” money to join United and Guardiola has added that the 13-time Premier League champions couldn’t afford to lure his players away from the Allianz Arena.
“[United] didn’t have enough money,” he told reporters. “I saw they spent a lot of money. It’s good for my friend Louis. It’s part of the game.
“All of the clubs in the world want the players of another club. It depends on the player. If the player wants to play he will play. If he wants to stay he will stay.”
“[Their decline] is a good lesson for the big clubs. They think: ‘We are unbeatable and strong’ and they are not here. Maybe the next season they are out.
“That’s why football is magnificent. Every single week you have to be ready. Every week you have got to show you are ready.”
Turning his attention to his side’s first Champions League match with Manchester City, Guardiola stressed winning the opening game is very important.
“The first game is important to set the tone for the group. It’s a tough group and to start with three points is much better but we are going to focus on our style, our game and what we have to do to beat them.
The coach then revealed that Arjen Robben is fit enough to be included in the squad, but Franck Ribery is still injured, while he maintains new signing Mehdi Benatia is still settling into the team.
“Arjen is here, Franck isn’t. He is at home. Franck went to the doctor and they told me he can’t play.
“We are giving Mehdi time, I am very pleased with his attitude and his character, but we have to see how his situation evolves. He came from AS Roma here with little training and was injured, but it gets better every day.”
