Pablo Zabaleta has insisted that Manchester City must continue to spend big if they are to bring in the kind of players they need to reclaim the Premier League title.

City paid a British record £54m for Wolfsburg midfielder Kevin de Bruyne and £44m for Liverpool's Raheem Sterling this summer, and both players have made an impact in their opening months at the Etihad.

Zabaleta says that De Bruyne's signing in particular highlights the need for the club to keep paying out big transfer fees in order to keep one step ahead of their title rivals.

"Football is like that - if you want to bring in big players then you have to pay crazy money sometimes," he told The Mirror.

"I understand that, but probably today with television contracts you have two teams in Spain who can pay the money, a few teams in England, and Bayern Munich in Germany.

"Paying big fees is the only way that you can bring in big players. Manchester City demand a successful season with trophies and the only way we can do that is to bring in top players like Kevin."

City face a local derby against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday and could go top of the Premier League table with victory.