Guardiola has spent over £220m in his two seasons at Manchester City
While the prize of the Champions League is not the be-all and end-all in terms of competition, it is a relevant reason why teams invest so heavily.
PSG are going for it. They want it. And their ability to sign the star players on the continent that they want is probably a good indication of their desperation.
PSG have been so aggressive in the transfer market in recent seasons that maybe there are no stars in the first team. You only need one.
Until now they have kept things discreet but we know what Pep Guardiola wants in his team – and they were the sign that PSG were thinking about going after Neymar last summer.
But Guardiola is a man who has been built to make teams. He has won all the big trophies in Europe and the Premier League. Now he wants to get it into the Champions League.
And PSG could have the same problem. Mourinho said that he had spotted a couple of PSG players on the bench when City beat them in last month’s Champions League. They clearly want to go for a Neymar-type of player, like Kylian Mbappe.
They are not even the sole stars in their team: the Monaco duo of Tiemoue Bakayoko and Kylian Mbappe are huge, the Xherdan Shaqiri situation at Liverpool will never end, the sheer arsenal of talent they’ve got on their bench will make it very difficult to compete.
They’re not sure what they are. They’ve got Messi, they’ve got Neymar, they’ve got Kylian Mbappe. Who do they need? It’s not clear yet.
But they are a side capable of winning the Champions League. I just hope it’s with Guardiola, who will need to build this side with flair and without the necessity of spending tens of millions of pounds a year to play deep and chase teams. It’s a different game.