MARTIN SAMUEL: The bottom line is that Jurgen Klopp was wrong. City CAN'T spend what they want

If Manchester City genuinely could, as Jurgen Klopp believes, do what they want, then Harry Kane would be their striker — as would Erling Haaland. Pep Guardiola's Man City side pay big transfers for players but are one of the smartest teams in the market Jurgen Klopp suggested City can sign whoever they want in the transfer window due to their financial might Liverpool ran out 1-0 winners against Man City at Anfield on Sunday to kick-start their season Setting Sunday's match up as the evil empire against the noble, straight-shooting underdogs, may have added to the febrile atmosphere inside Anfield, may have added to the coins, the graffiti, the vile chanting, the absence of boundaries on both sides — and that's not to knock what was largely a cracking atmosphere — but that is only part of the problem with what Klopp said on the eve of the game. Erling Haaland joined Manchester City for just £51.2million in the summer - a bargain deal City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has navigated the club through numerous transfer windows Spaniard Guardiola has guided City to four Premier League titles since joining the club in 2016 It's Manchester City, because they sold three key players — Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko — to make room for Haaland and, to a lesser extent, Kalvin Phillips. Klopp may moan about big fees for players but it was him who sanctioned Liverpool's moves for Alisson and Virgil van Dijk totalling £142million And, obviously, City's ambition is to win genuine titles, not triumph in some accountants' net spend table, but if one existed, they wouldn't be doing badly at all. Manchester United are the Premier League's highest net spenders having spent £105.4million And, no, those numbers don't include Haaland; then again nor do they include Mo Salah's new deal, the most lucrative in Liverpool's history.