Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano has hit back at Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United amid suggestions that the Citizens are only successful due to the money spent on new signings.
The Premier League leaders are one of the richest clubs in world football and have been heavily backed in the transfer market since the arrival of owner Sheikh Mansour in 2008.
Mansour and co have overseen City win a total of 17 trophies over the last 15 years, including six Premier League titles, and Pep Guardiola's side are on the cusp of greatness this season as they chase down a historic treble.
Indeed, City's treble-winning hopes were handed a significant boost on Wednesday when they recorded a comprehensive 5-1 aggregate victory over Real Madrid to reach the Champions League final.
Guardiola's side also have an FA Cup final with rivals Man United to look forward to and they are just one victory away from securing their third successive Premier League title.
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Earlier this year, City's success was overshadowed by allegations from the Premier League of breaching over 100 financial regulations following a four-year investigation, charges which the Citizens profusely deny.
City face the prospect of severe punishment if found guilty, but CEO Soriano has played down suggestions that the club have spent significantly more than their Premier League rivals.
Speaking to Movistar, as quoted by Metro, Soriano said: "Look, you only have to look at the investment in players in England in the last year, three years, five years... we are never the club spending the most on players.
"There are many other clubs investing more money than us – Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal. Saying that we've spent a lot of money and we won because of that is just not true."
According to figures from Transfermarkt across the last ten years, Chelsea have spent more than any other club in Europe (£1.82bn), followed by Man City (£1.5bn) in second and Man United (1.45bn) in third, while Arsenal (£1.04bn) are down in seventh on the list.
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Asked about what it would mean to Man City to lift the Champions League for the first time in their history, Soriano added: "The Champions League is a bit symbolic.
"We work every day for the Premier League, it's a very difficult tournament to win. If we do it this year, it will be the third in a row, five in six years.
"From my experience, I know that you cannot base all your strategy on winning the Champions League, because it depends on the draw, a bad day... but yes, when we win it, which we will do one day, it will be something symbolic."
Twelve months on from signing Jack Grealish for a club-record £100m, Man City spent just under £115m on four new players last summer, but they eventually made a net profit after recouping close to £150m from player sales including Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko.
The Citizens are believed to be in the market for a new midfielder and defender ahead of the new campaign, amid uncertainty over the futures of Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva and Aymeric Laporte.
Oliver Thomas
