Former Chelsea and Celtic striker Chris Sutton does not believe Manchester City can be ranked as an elite club in European football until they have won the Champions League.

The BT Sport pundit says the glaring gap in the Citizens’ trophy cabinet must be filled in order for City to be categorised alongside the likes of United, Liverpool and Chelsea:

“They have a brilliant manager, they have outstanding players. They’ve played some of the greatest football the Premier League has ever seen.”

“But the truth of it is they can never be regarded as an elite club in Europe and worldwide until they actually win the Champions League and that’s a fact.”

“You can’t put them in Manchester United’s category, Liverpool’s category, Chelsea’s category, Celtic’s category. They can’t be regarded as a European great. It doesn’t matter about how much money the owners have.”

Sutton’s mention of Celtic kind of makes a mockery of his argument. While the Scottish club have historically been regarded as a great club after winning the European Cup, they are leagues behind the Citizens, both on and off the pitch, these days.

Whether the pundit is trying to drum up controversy in order to garner attention, it is not known, but it does come across as a pretty cynical statement designed to anger some fans.

In any case, unlike United and Liverpool, City do have the chance of securing their place in the Champions League quarter-final when they face Real Madrid on Friday.