Pep Guardiola gets a lot of accusations thrown his way by certain batches of football fans.

Critiques of Guardiola

While there's no denying that the Spaniard is one of the greatest managers of all time, supporters are often quick to point out that he's never won the Champions League without Lionel Messi.

Take from that what you will, but it's a criticism that has gained a companion in recent years with fans now making the point that Guardiola has benefitted from heavy spending at Manchester City.

Besides, some of the most cynical commentators in the Premier League will have you believe that the ex-Barcelona boss owes much of his success at the Etihad Stadium to all the transfer splurging.

Harry Kane to Man City for £160m? (Football Terrace)

Linked with Kane and Grealish moves

It's a situation that certainly won't be assuaged by rumours that the Citizens are going to break the bank to sign Harry Kane and Jack Grealish for blockbuster fees this summer.

In fact, according to The Sun, City are 'poised' to complete the second-biggest transfer in football history by signing Kane for £160 million and on staggering £400,000-per-week wages to boot.

Whether or not the deal comes to fruition remains to be seen, but it has once again brought City's heavy spending to the fore and it's something that we wanted to put under the microscope.

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ENTER GIVEAWAY

Big spending under Guardiola

In order to achieve that, we've called upon the data gurus at Transfermarkt to see which managers have spent the most on transfers throughout the course of football history.

And low and behold, Guardiola finds himself in the upper echelons of the list as one of only four coaches to have overseen more than £1 billion of transfer spending during their respective tenures.

Naturally, the exact fees and overall transfer strategies can't entirely be pinned on the managers, but it's still fascinating to see which bosses have commanded the most bountiful regimes.

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Highest-spending managers in history

So, without further ado, be sure to check out the 15 managers who have amassed the greatest transfer expenditures in football history down below:

15. Jurgen Klopp - £655.17 million

Number of players purchased: 72

14. Sir Alex Ferguson - £711.63 million

Number of players purchased: 95

13. Roberto Mancini - £735.47 million

Number of players purchased: 83

12. Rafael Benitez - £742.36 million

Number of players purchased: 103

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11. Unai Emery - £761.67 million

Number of players purchased: 73

10. Claudio Ranieri - £756.20 million

Number of players purchased: 109

9. Ernesto Valverde - £777.72 million

Number of players purchased: 53

8. Antonio Conte - £850.41 million

Number of players purchased: 84

7. Arsene Wenger - £868.50 million

Number of players purchased: 103

6. Diego Simeone - £886.16 million

Number of players purchased: 68

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5. Massimiliano Allegri - £949.52 million

Number of players purchased: 96

4. Manuel Pellegrini - £1.04 billion

Number of players purchased: 88

3. Carlo Ancelotti - £1.33 billion

Number of players purchased: 100

2. Pep Guardiola - £1.33 billion

Number of players purchased: 66

1. Jose Mourinho - £1.54 billion

Number of players purchased: 105

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Guardiola on the podium

So, there you have it, Guardiola might have spent an eye-watering £1.33bn at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City, but he can at least rest easy in the knowledge that Mourinho has spent more.

And the list is perhaps most telling about managers who have overseen major spending at more than one club they've commanded because there are certainly anomalies amongst the top 15.

Besides, you can almost certainly pin the presence of Emery and Valverde on the fact that PSG and Barcelona were breaking every transfer spending record under the sun at the time.

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And although Guardiola inhabiting second place is no slight on his managerial career, it certainly goes to show that he hasn't been short of financial backing wherever his career has taken him.