Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola appeared in a press conference to discuss the upcoming match on Sunday against Arsenal, in the fifth round of the Premier League, at the Emirates Stadium.

Guardiola spoke about Arsenal's significant spending in the transfer market: "It is what it is. They decided to do that at Arsenal, I just want to say to my friend Mikel Arteta: If he wins the title, it will only be because he spent money, not because he worked hard or because his players worked hard. The same goes for Liverpool, if Arne Slot wins the title again, it will be because he spent a lot of money, right? Because it hasn't just happened with Manchester City, right?"

He added: "So for everyone: Listen, for many years every club can do what they want. I know that the way people deal with that is completely different, but if any club wants to spend, it’s because they want to, and that’s normal."

He emphasized: "All I can say is that they were smart. They spent according to what they believed could make them competitive with the best teams in the Premier League and Europe, and they have reached this level."

He continued: "He (Arteta) found the team in this shape, and over time, window after window, step by step, Arsenal has become better. Last season in Europe, they made an amazing step forward, and for me, they are the most solid team. They don’t make mistakes at the back, and they are a very solid team."

He noted: "They have great speed in attack, and they have, of course, danger on set pieces with Nico Goffre – he was here with us before. They are strong in every aspect. And we know that. Every team is improving more and more, and I know the quality that everyone has."

He added: "In the match last season against Arsenal, we started as we did many times during the season, we scored a lot of goals, and then we were good most of the time considering how the season was, but the last 15 or 20 minutes were a disaster, we forgot what we had to do, and then it became easy for Arsenal. I hope this season we can challenge them a little more, because Mikel Arteta is an exceptional coach, and they have strengthened their squad over four or five transfer windows, so they have an amazing team and an amazing squad, they are one of the toughest opponents you can face now in Europe, and we will try to compete. I want us to compete to become a better team than we were last season, especially in the last 20-25 minutes."

On Rodri's ability to play three matches in a week: "That's a good question. I don’t know yet. He has been very smart. I know the result was not decided, 1-0 is always dangerous, but he didn’t feel comfortable, so we tried to talk to him, and we decided it was better not to take the risk, we are monitoring day by day, but he has to be ready for the matches. For example, in the training session yesterday, he didn’t feel comfortable, he wasn’t in good shape, but he said: (No, no, I’ll be fine tomorrow) and played wonderfully, as Rodri always does, with him on the field we feel more comfortable, but of course after the injury you have to be careful, and we will decide on Sunday based on his condition."

On the importance of the Arsenal match: "When I arrived here, Brian Kidd told me that Sir Alex Ferguson used to say: In the Premier League, you have to stay close to the top four until Boxing Day (December 26). After that, you can think about the title. Last season, after Boxing Day, we were in a very difficult position. So we say now: Let’s go and see what happens. There are many matches."

He concluded: "From experience, in the six league titles we have won, I believe that four or five times we were behind Liverpool or Arsenal in December or January, and in the end, we won it. All I care about now is to see the team develop. We won’t win the league on Sunday, and we won’t lose it on Sunday either, what I want is to see the team improve from last season, and continue building on the good things we did in the last two matches.