After the Premier League champions were shut out by Tottenham in a 1-0 defeat, the Catalan played down his team’s need for the England captain
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has suggested that his side do not need to sign Harry Kane following their 1-0 loss to Tottenham on Sunday.
City made a limp start to their Premier League title defence, falling to a narrow loss thanks to a strike from Son Heung-min.
They have been linked , meanwhile, for Tottenham forward Kane, who was not present in the home squad following a curtailed pre-season, in part because he only began training nine days ago .
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What was said?
“We have the same players as last season and we scored lots of goals,” Guardiola said in his post-match press conference in relation to whether City need to step up their pursuit of Kane. “It has happened.
“What is important is we are there, the last cross. We arrived many times there and today. We could not score but it is the same mystery. We are the same, we are good enough to create chances and score goals and we are going to do it.”
Why are City linked with Kane?
Manchester City started the Spurs match with Ferran Torres in the centre-forward position, despite the fact he was not signed to fulfil those duties.
Indeed, Guardiola’s side have only Gabriel Jesus on their books to fill the role as a traditional striker following the departure of Sergio Aguero, with a ‘false nine’ often preferred to a centre-forward.
There is a widespread belief that, if they were to sign Kane, who has won the Premier League Golden Boot on three occasions, they would become a stronger side still.
Spurs, however, hold the power with regards the striker’s future as he has three years left on his contract. With that in mind, they are reported to have put a price tag of around £150 million on the England captain.
City, meanwhile, enjoyed one of the best seasons in their history in 2020-21, despite lacking an obviously prolific scorer. Instead, they shared the goals around, with seven hitting double figures in all competitions.
Last term, Ilkay Gundogan was their leading scorer in the Premier League, despite netting a relatively meagre 13 goals.