Manchester City will close the gap on rivals Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur next season, manager Pep Guardiola has said after the side secured a third-placed Premier League finish in his debut campaign.
City endured an inconsistent season, finishing 13 points behind champions Chelsea and eight behind Tottenham as the Spaniard failed to secure a trophy for the first time in his managerial career.
“Always the leagues are complicated to win,” Guardiola said during a Q&A with supporters. “But of course we are going to close the gap between especially Chelsea and Tottenham, trying to be close for the next season.”
Guardiola also said that his first season in England did not call for too much adjustment compared to his time with Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
“It’s not too much, the principles are the same so the way you want to play is the same, so of course I adjust,” the Spaniard said.
“When I adjust it’s because of the quality of the players not because here the Premier League is different from the other ones. But the fundamental principles are the same.”
City have already splashed out big money on striker Bernardo Silva and goalkeeper Ederson Moares to strengthen their squad for next season.
Chelsea receive record pay-out for winning Premier League title
English champions Chelsea received a record Premier League pay-out of more than £150 million (Dh708.2m) this season, nearly £60m more than their predecessors Leicester City, after new TV deals came into force.
The broadcast deals, including a bumper domestic contract, ensured generous end-of-season payments for all 20 Premier League clubs who shared a total of £2.4 billion.
Figures on the league’s website showed Leicester, who earned £93m after their stunning title success last year, received £116m this season, when they finished 12th.
Second-placed Tottenham Hotspur earned about £145m – slightly less than Manchester City and Liverpool owing to the difference in their “facility fees”, awarded for appearances on TV.
Domestic rights to broadcast the Premier League were sold for £5.1bn over three seasons, dwarfing the previous deal.
The league shares money from its central commercial deals and overseas broadcast rights on an equal basis, which means all 20 clubs got nearly £5m each for the former and £39m for the latter.
Even the three clubs who were relegated leave with large payments, including bottom-placed Sunderland who received just over £93m.
The Premier League also paid out nearly £220m in “parachute payments” to eight teams relegated in recent seasons: Aston Villa, Cardiff City, Fulham, Newcastle United, Norwich City, Queens Park Rangers, Reading and Wigan.
Villa, Newcastle and Norwich, who were relegated last year, got almost £41m each, QPR £31m and the other four more than £16m.
Overall, the ratio between the highest and the lowest earning clubs in the Premier League was 1.61 to 1, the lowest among Europe’s top leagues.
The Premier League’s appeal to broadcasters at home and abroad has also permitted it to increase the money it distributes to grassroots facilities and projects.
In the last financial year, the league spent £200m in this area, about seven per cent of its total broadcast income.
* Agencies
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