Craig Bellamy has slammed the snipers attacking Manchester City.
The Welsh striker said: "Don't forget, the Uniteds and Chelseas have been spending £20, £30m on players for a long time.
"Now we're doing it, that makes us the bad guys? No, far from it.
"People are grumbling about us spending all this money but the top four have been doing it for years - paying big fees and top wages.
"People are saying what City are doing isn't good for football. So, what, we just let the top four get on with it?
"This is the best thing that's happened to football, a chance for another club to break into that elite.
"We're gearing ourselves up to become one of the big clubs of Europe.
"It's going to take a while because the major clubs have been in that position for a long time.
"That's why we are spending a lot of money quickly - to try to close that gap as quickly as possible."