Manchester City chief commercial officer Tom Glick has insisted that the club will "always try to get the best players possible", even if prices continue to skyrocket.
City have already become the first Premier League club to spend £200m in a single transfer window with their activity this summer, and they are still reportedly in the race to sign Kylian Mbappe for a world-record fee of £161m.
Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez has also been linked with a big-money move to the Etihad Stadium, and Glick suggested that money is no object for the club when looking to fulfil their ambition.
"I think this is the way that the market has been going. The key for us is we want to continue to compete in the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup. If there are flaws in our team and things we need to get stronger, then we need to do that (spend) to get the absolute best players. We're all competing for what we feel will be the best players that will make a difference, help us to compete and beat our rivals in the Premier League and Champions League," he told reporters.
"It's only natural that for those players we all think are the best, there's going to be some big prices. Madrid doesn't have more than Manchester City have. Players are very important and we always try to get the best players possible. Abu Dhabi came in and invested in the team. Over the past five or six years we climbed to the top and we're now in the top three or four. In order to get to the level of Madrid or Barcelona we just need time.
"I could not imagine two or three years ago that people would pay £100m or £120m for one player. Now it's happened and it's going to happen more. I would like to pay less for the club, but the market is the market. All the clubs spent a lot of money not just us. We are going to see until August 31 the amount of new transfers coming. We will see 70, 80, 90, £100m, maybe more than that. Maybe one day it's going to stop, we will see."
Man City, who went trophyless in Pep Guardiola's first season at the helm, will begin their Premier League season away to Brighton & Hove Albion.
Barney Corkhill
