Guardiola (black shirt) while waiting for captain Gundogan to lift the Champions League trophy at Ataturk Stadium, Istanbul, Türkiye on the evening of June 10, completing a historic treble for Man City.

Guardiola took office at Etihad Stadium in early summer 2016. In the first season 2016-2017, he recruited many stars, such as John Stones (60 million USD), Leroy Sane (55 million USD), Gabriel Jesus (35 million USD),

But these investments cannot help the Spanish coach escape from nothing.

That failure motivated Man City to spend money on Guardiola to recruit stronger troops next season.

With this new star team joining forces, Man City shockingly lost 0-1 to Wigan in the fifth round of the FA Cup, but crushed Arsenal 3-0 in the League Cup final and set a Premier League championship record with 100 points.

In the 2018-2019 season, Guardiola only brought in one star when he recruited Riyad Mahrez for a fee of more than 70 million USD.

The Etihad Stadium owner defeated Chelsea 4-3 in the penalty shootout in the League Cup final, won the Premier League with 98 points, one point ahead of Liverpool and crushed Watford 6-0 in the FA Cup final.

Mahrez is one of Guardiola’s biggest deals since leading Man City.

In the 2019-2020 season, Guardiola focused on strengthening the defense system by bringing in two expensive rookies, including defensive midfielder Rodri for a fee of 75 million USD from Atletico and full-back Joao Cancelo for 65 million USD from Juventus.

In the 2020-2021 season, Guardiola still prioritizes strengthening the defense, recruiting two defenders Ruben Dias (77 million USD), Nathan Ake (45 million USD) and striker Ferran Torres (35 million USD).

In the 2021-2022 season, Man City broke the English football transfer record by spending $139 million to sign Jack Grealish, then buying Julian Alvarez from River Plate for less than $20 million.

With the team in place, Man City is considered perfect when playing in possession of the ball.

According to transfer site Transfermarkt, during Guardiola’s six seasons in charge, Man City spent more than $1.3 billion for the Catalan military leader to strengthen his forces.

Haaland in the goal against Dortmund in the group stage of the Champions League.

Except for Kevin de Bruyne, who came to Etihad in the summer of 2015, and Phil Foden, who was promoted from the academy, the remaining pillars in Man City’s three-winning squad this season are all stars bought by Guardiola in the past seven years.

Man City became the second English team, after fellow city club Man Utd, to win the treble.