Pep Guardiola claims Manchester City couldnt afford to sign a striker during the summer transfer window.
The Spaniard made the claim despite splashing out a combined £123million to bring in Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake and Ferran Torres.
Guardiola considered bringing in a striker
The Citizens are without a recognised, senior fit striker with Sergio Aguero suffering a fresh injury setback to join Gabriel Jesus on the sidelines.
Guardiola admits he had eyed a new frontman in the summer transfer window, but wouldn’t have been able to bring in any of his potential targets due to money fears.
“We considered it, we thought about another type of striker but we could not,” he said, ahead of City’s Champions League clash with Marseille on Tuesday night – live on talkSPORT.
“If you decide to buy a striker, it has to be a striker in the league of Gabriel and Sergio, but we cannot afford it. That is the reality.
“We thought, ‘Okay, Sergio is back’ and we didn’t expect Gabriel to be injured, but sometimes it happens.
Aguero, City’s record goalscorer, suffered a muscular injury in Saturday’s game at West Ham.
Aguero suffered his latest injury blow in the first half of the 1-1 draw at the London Stadium and was withdrawn at the interval
The Argentinian was playing just his third match since recovering from the knee operation he had in June.
He could now be out for a month, and seems unlikely to be available for City’s clash against champions Liverpool on November 8.
“It depends on the injury,” Guardiola said.
“When it is minimum it will be 10-15 days. If it is longer it will be three weeks to a month. I don’t know.”
Man City also have Fernandinho, Benjamin Mendy and Nathan Ake crocked, while Aymeric Laporte and Kevin De Bruyne have struggled to stay fit in recent weeks.
Guardiola added: “We are not an exception compared to the other teams in Europe. We’re on the same schedule.
Now it is recovery, preparation, recovery and preparation, recovery and preparation.
“We don’t have time to practise much. Everyone has the statistics – in the Premier League, we have 47 per cent more muscular injuries than the same period last season.
It’s not just about City, it’s about everyone.
“If the people can reflect on this and the guys to protect the players it will be good for the future, if we don’t it will increase.
Now we have to protect the players as best as possible. The strongest ones will survive, the others will fall down.”