Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho offered a somewhat bizarre response when questioned about Liverpool's recent spending ahead of the two sides' meeting on Sunday.
The north west rivals face off at Anfield with the home side heading into the Premier League weekend sitting atop the table after an unbeaten 16-match run of domestic fixtures.
Their form has been built off the back of some impressive signings over the last 12 months, but Mourinho believes their performances are not solely down to flashing the cash.
He did, however, go about explaining his apparent acclaim of Jurgen Klopp's coaching in a way in which only Mourinho can.
"It’s not just about the money they spend in the summer, is about many things," he told a press conference.
“It’s not just about spending money and reinforcing the squad, a football team is more than that, is not just about spending the money.
“It’s like a house, it’s not just about buying the furniture, you have to do work, you spend money on the best possible furniture and then you’re ready to live in an amazing house.”
Since the start of 2018, Liverpool have broken two transfer world records, making Virgil van Dijk the world's most expensive defender in January while Alisson was - albeit briefly before Kepa Arrizabalaga joined Chelsea - the most costly goalkeeper in history upon his arrival in July.
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The Red Devils, meanwhile, have not been shy in spending themselves, with Paul Pogba signed for a then-world record fee in the summer of 2016 before Alexis Sanchez was made the Premier League's best-paid player in January 2018.
Despite that, Mourinho still believes that his squad is nowhere near strong enough to be competing with the sides towards the top of the table, blaming a lack of transfer activity from the Man Utd hierarchy.
"Far," was his response when asked how far away his current team were from one with which he would be truly happy.
When pressed further as to why, he added: "The reasons I was saying. It’s not just about spending."
Mourinho's side head along the M62 this weekend looking to bounce back from their midweek defeat to Valencia in the Champions League, though they will be buoyed by their first Premier League win in five matches over Fulham last time they were in domestic action.
Despite that victory over Claudio Ranieri's side, they head into the weekend sitting sixth in the table, eight points behind fourth-placed Chelsea in the fight for a place among Europe's elite next season.