Pep Guardiola hit back as Manchester City face serious allegations of financial wrongdoing – insisting he has complete trust in the club.

The Catalan came out in defence of City’s Abu Dhabi owners after German magazine Der Spiegel claimed the Premier League champions had misled Uefa to avoid Financial Fair Play penalties.

Using documents and emails obtained by the platform Football Leaks, Der Spiegel has provided what it claims are detailed accounts of City’s attempts to hide investment by owner Sheikh Mansour - including inflating sponsorship deals.

Latest revelations detail a secret project dubbed ‘Longbow,’ which involved selling off image rights to a company alleged to be funded by Mansour’s own Abu Dhabi United Group.

City have refused to comment on what they claim is an "organised and clear" attempt to damage their reputation.

But Guardiola was quick to offer his support – and insisted the success of the club in recent years is not down to finances alone.

“If people say it is just about money we accept it, but that point of view is completely wrong,” said the City manager ahead of tomorrow’s Champions League clash with Shakhtar Donetsk. “We work a lot in a good way and that's why I always defend us - especially my players – and what we do.”

Guardiola added: “The club has made a statement on Friday about what happened, stolen emails.

“Of course I trust the club and what they have done. Of course, we want to follow the rules. Uefa, Fifa and the Premier League do what they have to do.

“Believe me, I'm completely honest. I don't know what happened, I'm a manager, focused on the pitch, the locker room.

“I am a manager. I'm completely out of how we handle this situation. I'm part of the club, I support the club. We want to do what we have to do in terms of the rules.

“In terms of undermining our work on the pitch, opinions are free. If we win we are good, if we lose we accept it's not. We focus on what we have to do on the pitch.”

Guardiola has spent in the region of half a billion pounds turning City into the dominant force in the Premier League since taking charge in 2016.

He has always insisted such a level of spending was justified to compete with Europe’s best.

“I think it's said for the last decade that we just win because we have money and not because of good things,” he said. “That is an issue that always stays here. To achieve a certain level you need time and money. We invest money.

“When at Barcelona and Germany, I always hear that City has just money. We have to live with it. I am inside now and I would say of course there is money.

“But they're an incredible club, people working here, how professional they are with all the departments. They are very professional and they try to do things in the right way.

“You have to accept it when people say you win just because of money so we do accept it. But we believe we work a lot, not just the manger, the staff, players. We cannot achieve what we've achieved.

“The big clubs they have to spend on good players. All the ideas we have, we cannot do them without good players.”