Jose Mourinho aims subtle dig at Pep Guardiola after Man City boss issues apology to player

Roma boss Jose Mourinho has aimed a sly dig at Pep Guardiola over one of his transfers at Manchester City.

Mourinho is currently in his third season at the helm of the Italian giants, having led them to Europa Conference League glory in his first campaign. A Europa League final defeat to Sevilla followed last season.

Roma have qualified for Europe on consecutive occasions under the Portuguese boss, while they currently sit in fourth place in this season's Serie A.

The club have spent money under Mourinho, but have largely relied on loan deals ahead of this season with Romelu Lukaku, Sardar Azmoun and Renato Sanches all joining on a temporary basis.

Paulo Dybala, Mile Svilar, Nemanja Matic and Andrea Belotti all arrived on free transfers, while the record signing under Mourinho, Tammy Abraham, is currently out with an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury.

In contrast, Mourinho's rival Guardiola has had rich sums of money to be able to spend throughout large periods of his time in charge of City, even if the club's spending has been more targeted in recent seasons.

While the Spaniard's signings have largely been successful, there were some that haven't quite gone on to achieve what City would have hoped - think Claudio Bravo and Nolito.

Another signing that hasn't been a success yet is midfielder Kalvin Phillips, who cost City £42 million when they brought him in from Leeds in the summer of 2022.

The England midfielder did score his first goal for the club in Wednesday's 3-2 win over Red Star Belgrade, but hasn't been able to force his way into City's first choice XI amid injury and the form of other players.

His future at the club, therefore, is in serious doubt - especially after Guardiola apologised to him for not picking him, before saying he 'struggles to see him' in his team.

And Mourinho aimed a sly dig at Guardiola after those comments - and compared City's dilemma over Phillips to his restrictions when signing players.

He said (as quoted by beIN Sports): "Look, not that I'm jealous, but Manchester City, for example, paid €80 million for Phillips. And now, in January, Pep said he will send him away and buy another [midfielder].

"We are in a different reality. I would like one, two, three or four players, and [Roma sporting director] Tiago Pinto and the owners would like them too.

"We all want to try to improve the team to be stronger for the second half of the season. But we have difficulties in trying to do that."