Declan Rice, an England international, was signed by Arsenal for a club-record fee of £105 million, outbidding Manchester City to sign him.
The Gunners pushed harder for his signature, with Mikel Arteta making him a key part of their side this season.
Manchester City made a £90 million bid for Rice, but they refused to match Arsenal’s offers.
Guardiola believes that the opponents made a more compelling case for Rice, while his own club struggled to match the offer after spending £77.6 million on Joskvo Gvardiol.
“Everybody knows that we wanted him,” Guardiola said of Rice ahead of Sunday’s Emirates showdown. “In the end, Arsenal pushed more and wanted him more.
“Maybe Mikel was more convincing than me or the club itself or the offer that they got we believed in that position we could not reach it because we [bought] Josko. We could not afford it. We could afford it maybe less… that’s why.”
The deal to sign Rice was one of a spending spree of over £200 million from Arsenal, who also signed Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber, as well as a loan with an option to buy deal for goalkeeper David Raya.
City spent a similar sum in their window, bringing in Mateo Kovacic, Matheus Nunes, Jeremy Doku, as well as Gvardiol. Guardiola believes that the two clubs are treated differently when their transfer spending is discussed.
“Normally when Manchester City spend this amount of money it’s crazy, when it’s the other ones how smart they are. That’s quite happened but I’m not denying that everyone can do whatever they want and never judge the other one,” he said.
“Manchester City has been judged all the time, but it is not a problem. The more difficult thing for Arsenal is players leaving, especially important players in the team that were there when Mikel took over. At the moment, the recruitment is good, and Declan Rice is an exceptional holding midfielder.”
