Man City boss Pep Guardiola shows Daniel Levy the way with controversial transfer tactic after ‘small club’ dig

PEP GUARDIOLA was surely taking a potshot at Tottenham when he claimed “only small clubs” refused to sell players to rivals.

In 2021, Spurs chairman Daniel Levy — famously reluctant to do business with fellow Big Six sides — snubbed City’s £100million offer to take Harry Kane from the team Guardiola once dubbed “the Harry Kane team”.

AFPPep Guardiola is prepared to offload promising youngsters as well as big stars to top Prem rivals to bring in men like Erling Haaland[/caption]

Man City old boys Cole Palmer and Raheem Sterling both netted in Chelsea’s 4-4 draw with the reigning Prem championsRichard Pelham / The Sun

And, after all, Sir Alex Ferguson once described doing business with Levy as “more painful than a hip replacement”.

Before Sunday’s Stamford Bridge visit, Guardiola was justifying his decision to sell attacking midfielder Cole Palmer to Chelsea, a year after flogging Raheem Sterling to them.

Even after Sterling and Palmer shone — and scored — in the thrilling 4-4 draw with City, it is unlikely Guardiola will change his mind about allowing unhappy players to join potential rivals.

Last year, Guardiola sold Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko to his former City No 2 Mikel Arteta and saw Arsenal stage a sustained title challenge — yet City still won the Treble.

And while Sterling and Palmer are thriving at Mauricio Pochettino’s resurgent Chelsea, they will not be troubling the top clubs any time soon.

So these ‘risks’ are always calculated — whether with a star like Sterling or  promising home-grown kid struggling for game time, such as Palmer.

Trade between Big Six clubs is increasingly common; Chelsea sold Mateo Kovacic to City, Kai Havertz to Arsenal and Mason Mount to Manchester United over the summer.

There is actually   rich history of England’s biggest clubs striking deals among themselves — some successful, some disastrous, some bitterly controversial.

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Liverpool refused Steven Gerrard’s transfer request when Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea came calling.

And Ferguson denied Wayne Rooney a move across Manchester to City in 2010 — the England captain instead given a massive pay rise.

Rooney’s desire to join City, after a fall out with Fergie, followed Carlos Tevez’s switch to the  Etihad, as United’s noisy neighbours goaded their rivals with their “Welcome To Manchester” poster.

As with Tevez, it is often unavoidable to lose a player to a direct competitor, especially if he is out of contract or his deal is close to expiring.

The decline of Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal was characterised by them losing players to City — such as Emmanuel Adebayor, Samir Nasri, Gael Clichy and Bacary Sagna — and Wenger frequently moaning about “financial doping”.

Adebayor would provide a brilliant antidote to players who refuse to celebrate against former clubs, when netting against Arsenal at the Etihad and running the whole pitch to knee-slide in front of the away fans.

One of Ferguson’s greatest coups was signing Robin van Persie from Arsenal.

The Dutchman’s goals fired United to their 13th, and most recent, Premier League title in 2012-13, the Scot’s final season.

For controversy, it is impossible to beat Sol Campbell leaving Tottenham for Arsenal as a free  agent — the England defender becoming a  Gunners ‘Invincible’ and a hate figure at Spurs.

Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard and Man Utd icon Wayne Rooney both had huge transfers to top-six rivals blockedNews Group Newspapers Ltd

But Ashley Cole’s switch from Arsenal to Chelsea — with its ‘tapping up’ charges and Cole’s  revelation he almost crashed his car on learning the Gunners were only willing to pay him £55,000 per week — was right up there for pure rancour.

Sterling, like Cole, was accused of greed moving from Liverpool to City — but both went on to win major trophies and become world-class players.

Since Cole’s move, a free trade route has opened up between Chelsea and Arsenal — with William Gallas, Olivier Giroud, Petr Cech, Willian, David Luiz and Havertz among those moving.

For out-of-the-blue bombshells, Andy Cole’s move from Newcastle to Old Trafford — when Kevin Keegan’s side were Ferguson’s biggest challengers — was a humdinger.

Cole became a United Treble-winner but another move between major clubs ended less well.

Fernando Torres was Liverpool’s goalscoring talisman when Chelsea snapped him up in a £50m deal in 2011, only for Torres to flop.

But for pure disaster, there’s no topping Alexis Sanchez’s move from Arsenal to United — with its ludicrous video of him as a pianist, followed by Sanchez playing football with all the mastery of Les Dawson tickling the ivories.

Such moves are always a gamble but, until Palmer or Sterling score to deny City a title or European Cup, Guardiola is unlikely to change his tune.