At his Friday press conference, the boss was asked whether he would have preferred not to have sold any of his players to Premier League title rivals.
But Guardiola says the service the players gave City meant they deserved the opportunity to join whoever they wanted.
“Every player is different,” said Pep.
“(From) my point of view, the guys who gave us what they gave us - Raheem, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel - they deserved to choose because if they didn’t go to Chelsea or Arsenal, they would have stayed here.
Leicester v City | Match preview
“They belong at a big club.
“We want all of them to have good memories about their time at the Club, all of the people that care about them and their families.
“Who are we to say ‘you can’t go there’? I don’t like it. We have incredibly good transfers; everyone is happy.
“I don’t have a bad word for them, because of them we are who we are.
“Joe Hart, David Silva, Vincent Kompany… thanks to them, we are who we are.
“This is like a process. Like families - grandfathers, fathers, sons and daughters.
“I don’t judge others - they can do whatever they want.
“Every situation is different. But I don’t like saying you can’t go here or there.”
Watch the second part of Pep’s Friday press conference on the video above.
