Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish says Manchester City have thrown too much money at their player recruiting.
Recalling how he managed to build a title winning team at Blackburn Rovers, Dalglish said in his Mail on Sunday column: "Of course, Blackburn paid their players handsomely - and that was one of the reasons we could attract the best talent. But there was no way we would offer them double or even 50 per cent more than they would get somewhere else. We did break the transfer record for Shearer and Sutton but no player earned substantially more at Ewood Park than at other top clubs.
"It seems different at Manchester City. The owners wanted success overnight and, as a result, were prepared to throw an unprecedented amount of money in transfer fees and wages.
"Some of that has benefited English football because money has filtered down to clubs like Everton (Joleon Lescott), West Ham (Craig Bellamy), Arsenal (Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure) and Aston Villa (James Milner and Gareth Barry).
"The irony is that City might not have felt the real benefit themselves because they have kept changing players and that doesn't help lay proper foundations. And whenever you change the manager, the new man is always likely to want to make more changes.
"Real success takes time. By acting too quickly, you will get some players who have signed for what I'd call the right reasons. But it increases the risk of bringing in players who are there for more mercenary reasons. My preference is to have players who buy into the story rather than buying into the cash.
"The signing of Robinho on the new owners' first day laid out their intentions and flexed the club's new muscles. He might have been knocked out with the number of zeroes at the end of his contract, having been fourth-choice at Real Madrid, but within a couple of weeks he was given permission to go back to Brazil while his team-mates were knocked out of the Carling Cup at Brighton.
"Since then, Wayne Bridge, Adebayor, Kolo Toure and a whole legion of other players have arrived. Were they sold on the City 'story' or did the pound signs come first?
"Any renowned player City approach will look at reports of Yaya Toure's £240,000-a-week wages and want something approaching parity. City have made a rod for their own back and even the richest Sheik in the world isn't going to let that continue forever."
