CITY money man Alistair Mackintosh wants a return on the club's costly wage bill - one of the highest in the Premiership.

But despite the Blues' stuttering start, chief executive Mackintosh insists manager Stuart Pearce is under no pressure to deliver immediate results.

And he says the club is comfortable with its decision to spend large sums on wages.

Only six other top flight teams are thought to commit more of their budgets on wages than City.

"In football you've got to be aware of what your competitors are doing and sometimes you have to take the extra risk," said Mackintosh.

"Sometimes you've got to mitigate that risk wherever possible.

"Certain clubs have run very low wage bills and it's become self-fulfilling in that they've ended up leaving the Premier League.

"That's exactly what we don't want to happen. We've got a manager who we think is an exceptional individual who has purpose and passion. He will do a very good job for City.

Wage bill

"We've also invested heavily in our wage bill. And while the players may have come here on Bosman transfers, they generally have a high wage attached.

"But it's important and we want to support Stuart bringing in the players he wants.

"Ideally you use the wages in the most efficient way. And everyone always wants better and better players.

"So, if we can use them in a more efficient way we should do that. But we are very comfortable at what we've done.

"It's a strategic choice to have a high wage bill. But then you want performance that is commensurate to that as possible."

City have spent é8.5m in transfer fees this year but many key players have come through the Platt Lane Academy.

Youngsters such as last week's goal hero Micah Richards have already been targeted by City's Premiership rivals.

"We invest é2m in our Academy each year," he said. "If we weren't looking to bring those players through to our first team, we shouldn't be spending that money.

"Players are being looked at by other clubs all the time; it's not just when they get to the first team.

"The market is way more developed than that. In the summer there was a lot of speculation about Micah and Danny Sturridge.

"We could have cashed in then. But we worked very hard to keep them. We don't want them to go elsewhere.

"We want them here at Manchester City playing in the first team. At Everton we had five Academy graduates in the team and we're proud of that fact."