But when told it appears as though City’s summer spending spree had stopped, Hodgson responds: “Thank goodness for that! If you look at their squad of players and the amount they have spent, then everybody sees them as a very strong squad with every good chance of wining league.

“I am sure they will be devastated not to finish in the top three and qualify for Champions League because the owners have spent so much money.

“It puts the manager under pressure as he has to make players gel. That’s always the same at a new club. We have the same situation except we haven’t much money... in fact we haven’t spent any.”

The volume of spending alone has made City genuine title contenders for many people, and the Eastlands outfit are most certainly a major threat to Liverpool’s hopes of regaining their top-four berth.

And despite the cynics saying the Premier League title cannot be bought, Hodgson points to history for an answer.

“Chelsea did it, I’d say they were nothing like title contenders when Roman Abramovich came in and took over the club,” he says. “Since he has they have won titles.

“Blackburn Rovers did it too with Jack Walker, who came to a club that was never winning anything. They spent an awful lot of money on the likes of Alan Shearer, Chris Sutton and Tim Sherwood and were champions.

“So you’ve seen it done with Chelsea and you’ve seen it at Blackburn, so why isn’t it possible at Manchester City?”

Hodgson, though, will be doing his utmost to ensure that isn’t the case.