@SAFMUTD
The definition of "superstar" is largely subjective. I actually don't think Mahrez and Cancelo necessarily fall under that category either, btw.
When Pep arrived he had: Kompany, Fernandinho, D.Silva, Toure, De Bruyne, Sterling and prime Aguero. On top of this, he immediately added Gundogan, Stones, Sane and Jesus. That's a superb team from the get-go(not that he could capitalize on it in his first season). And ever since then he kept pouring money into the defense on an annual basis, while getting the likes of B.Silva and Mahrez in the meantime.
Practically every player in the starting XI cost more than 50 million euros. The obvious exceptions are Foden(who doesn't always start), Gundogan(who's one of their best players anyways), and Jesus(who is probably gonna get replaced ASAP). They also got a heavy bench.
Compare that to us, the second highest spenders in the league(if we count from the Mourinho era at least): 4 academy players in the starting XI. A 33(?) year old free transfer up front. 2 players costing less than 40 million euros(Shaw and Lindelöf). That's 7 out of 11 players falling under the category "free" or "cheap".
Of course, this is partly down to us having a good academy while fecking up a lot of transfers(particularly under Mourinho and Van Gaal). But the end result is clear, and it's not pretty when you compare us to City.