Manchester City boss has confirmed the club’s interest in Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane after completing the signing of Jack Grealish from Aston Villa. The Spanish tactician has confirmed that City are planning to launch a transfer for the England skipper who led the Three Lions at the Euros 2020.
The Cityzens have broken the British record to sign former Villa star Grealish for £100million. The expenses could go higher with their new pursuit to sign Kane as a replacement for their record goalscorer Sergio Aguero who left the club to join Barcelona in June.
The Spurs marksman will not come at a cheap price as the Lillywhites are trying everything in their power to keep the 28-year-old in North London. But Kane believes that he has a gentleman’s deal with chairman Daniel Levy and will be allowed to leave this summer. The England skipper has grown frustrated with the club’s inability to win trophies.
Pep Guardiola is ready to splash the cash if any opportunity comes up to sign the England skipper. Kane led the goalscoring charts last season and won the Golden Boot by netting 23 goals ahead of Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes.
Kane has not returned to training at Spurs after leading England to the finals of the European Championship. Therefore the player also wants to move out of North London and has claimed that previously as well.
When asked about the club’s interest in Kane, Guardiola said,
“If they are open to negotiate, I think not just Man City but many clubs in the world want to sign him – we are not an exception – but it depends on Tottenham.
“It’s different from Jack. He had a release clause and he is different.
“Harry Kane is an exceptional, extraordinary striker – no doubts about that, of course we are interested – but he is a Tottenham player and if they don’t want to negotiate there is nothing more to say. If they want to, we will try.”
The Spaniard was tight-lipped when asked about City’s stance with Lionel Messi who is a free agent right now. The Argentine magician has severed his ties with childhood club Barcelona.
For now, Guardiola has added a huge creative presence in signing Grealish. The 25-year-old dynamic midfielder was exceptional for Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions at the Euros and played a big role in their journey to the finals. The Spaniard explained how he has invested a lot of faith and funds in the midfielder.
Explaining that deal, Guardiola said:
“When we spend this amount of money it is because we sell [players] for almost £60m. We were not able in the last year or so but we sell young players from the academy and loan players for £60m. When you sell that, you can afford £100m. Otherwise, it would not have been possible.
“That’s why we spend on him because he’s 25 years old, he can play the next five, six, seven, eight years here and we believe we have an incredibly huge talent in terms of not just skills but mentality.”
Grealish joins a club filled with attacking talent, and therefore there can be multiple exits from the Etihad Stadium this summer. Portuguese international Bernardo Silva is among the players rumoured to leave the club this summer.
Guardiola has also admitted that he won’t stop any of the players from moving elsewhere in search of a new challenge. Bernardo has been linked with Barca, but the Catalans are going through a financial crunch, and a deal may not be possible this summer.
Manchester City won the Premier League last season and reached the finals of the Champions League, where they lost against Chelsea.
