Pep Guardiola has called on Tottenham Hotspur to come to the negotiating table and discuss an acceptable price for Harry Kane after admitting for the first time yesterday that he wants to bring the England captain to Manchester City.
Guardiola, the City manager, usually does not speak publicly about transfer targets, but he broke with convention at a press conference, describing the 28-year-old as an “exceptional striker” whom he is keen to sign.
There have been no direct negotiations between the two clubs but Spurs have told intermediaries that they will only accept a bid worth £160 million for Kane.
That figure is out of the question for City. They had originally hoped to secure Kane’s signing for about £100 million — the same figure that they spent on Jack Grealish this week.
Guardiola has not given up hope of signing Kane but he admitted that Spurs’ hardball tactics are hampering any chance of a deal being struck.
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“If Tottenham don’t want to negotiate, it’s finished,” Guardiola, 50, said. “If they are open to negotiate, many clubs would want to try to sign him. We are not an exception, but it depends on Tottenham. Jack had a release clause and he is different. Harry Kane is an exceptional, extraordinary striker and 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.”
Kane is scheduled to report for training this weekend after failing to show up at the start of the week, having been on holiday in the Bahamas.
The forward, who has three years left on his contract, would like to join City, who have only one centre forward, Gabriel Jesus, in their ranks after Sergio Agüero’s departure to Barcelona.
Tottenham were prepared to fine Kane for his absence from training but the striker issued a statement last night claiming that he always intended to return this weekend.
“It’s almost ten years since I made my Spurs debut,” he said. “For every one of those years, you — the fans — have shown me total support and love.
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“That’s why it hurts to read some of the comments that have been made this week, questioning my professionalism.
“While I won’t go into the specifics of the situation, I want to clarify that I would never, and have never, refused to train. I will be returning to the club tomorrow, as planned.
“I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardise the relationship I have with the fans who have given me such unwavering support during my time with the club. This has always been the case, as it is today.”
Lionel Messi is another striker on the market after his shock exit from Barcelona, but, as reported by The Times on Thursday night, Guardiola said that he has no plans at present to sign the 34-year-old Argentina star.
“Right now it [a deal for Messi] is not in our thoughts, absolutely not,” Guardiola said. “We have signed Jack Grealish. He will have the No 10 [shirt] because we were incredibly convinced with Jack Grealish and were convinced that Leo would continue at Barcelona.”
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When asked if that meant City would have signed Messi instead of Grealish had they known that the former would leave Barcelona, Guardiola said: “I didn’t reflect [on] it. It was yesterday, so now we have a strategy at the club for a long time and we’ll follow it.
“If it [Messi leaving] was going to happen? Nobody knows. Yesterday in the morning he was finishing his career at Barcelona and now he’s not. In football you never know what is going to happen, but right now, today, it looks difficult.
“I don’t know, honestly, because we invest with Jack as we believe he can make an important role in the team.”
Despite signing Grealish, Guardiola cut a frustrated figure at times yesterday when discussing his squad.
Last season City won the Premier League with ease, lifted the Carabao Cup for the fifth successive year and reached the Champions League final, but Guardiola fears that some of the players on the fringes of his team could stagnate due to a lack of game time.
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The Catalan said before the Champions League final against Chelsea in May that it was important to “shake and move” his squad — but so far, Agüero is the sole departure and Grealish is City’s only signing.
Aymeric Laporte, a target for Juventus, and Bernardo Silva, who is wanted by Atletico Madrid, are among a number of players who want to leave. There are also question marks about the futures of Jesus, Nathan Aké and Benjamin Mendy.
Guardiola has urged those who want to leave to do so quickly as the transfer window closes in a little over three weeks’ time. “There are players who cannot stay here if they want to play every game,” Guardiola said. “Every decision is the best for the team. Some want to be more important. They have to find a solution before August 31.
“It is not just Bernardo, there are two, three or four players that want to leave, but they are our players under contract and when they bring some offer and their agents come here and they want to leave, we are open to discuss absolutely everything.”
City fans will get their first glimpse of Grealish this afternoon when Guardiola’s side play Leicester City in the Community Shield. The British record signing is set to start on the bench.
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Guardiola, in seeking to justify the Grealish fee, said that the club had recouped a significant amount in player sales and other payments from sell-on clauses over the past year. “We paid a £100 million fee but we [earned] £60 million last year,” Guardiola said.
Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden will be missing today as they are still recovering from ankle and foot injuries suffered during Euro 2020.
