Roberto Mancini says Manchester City would still be challenging for the Premier League and Champions League titles had he been able to sign his principal targets last summer.
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"We would probably be at the top... probably also in a Champions League quarter-final," the City manager said.
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"We had a chance to get three or four players that would have improved our team but now it is finished with."
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And he added rivals Manchester United "continued to improve their team".
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All five top targets identified by Mancini last summer opted against joining City.
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Those at the top of the Italian's list were understood to include Netherlands striker Robin van Persie, who instead joined Premier League leaders United from Arsenal, and Belgium's Eden Hazard, who signed for Chelsea from French side Lille.
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Additionally, Athletic Bilbao's Javi Martinez chose Bayern Munich, Daniel De Rossi stayed in Italy with Roma and City refused to meet Liverpool's £27m valuation of Danish centre-half Daniel Agger.
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However, the Italian still spent £52m last summer on players including Javi Garcia, Matija Nastasic and Jack Rodwell. That was a greater total than Manchester United counterpart Sir Alex Ferguson, whose chief purchase was the £24m capture of Van Persie.
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"We had the chance to get important players, players that this year could have been the difference in this team," continued Mancini. "But it is useless to talk about this now."
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City go into Monday's Manchester derby at Old Trafford trailing rivals United by 15 points. With just eight games remaining, Mancini has already conceded the title and the Italian believes that, despite City securing their first title in 44 years last May, United's aura remains unchallenged.
That is just an excuse. He is not so sure of this match by his words. Manchester United should capitalize on that