City's squad is considered very strong because of Pep. Most players play their best football under Pep which inturn makes their squad look better than they are.
I don't know how much Pellegrini spent, but he spent shit loads of money. He spent around 400 million euros in 3 seasons and that was before market was broke.
Why did I bring CL in this conversation?
How can I not when you said Conte who is shit in CL and goes out in GS more often that not is comparable to Pep who made CL finals and always reach KO rounds of CL.
Conte is a downgrade from Pep in league or cups. And City will have better options than Conte considering the Pep years they had for last 6 years.