Pep Guardiola admits Harry Kane rejection gave Man City doubts over season

19.02.2022 - 01:59 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk

Pep Guardiola opened up on Manchester City's uncertainty after their efforts to sign Harry Kane in the summer transfer window were rejected.

The Blues went back four times to Tottenham with their interest in signing the player, and the manager took the rare step of confirming their intention in public, but with a week to go in the transfer window their hopes were finally thwarted.

That left City with egg on their face after the club chairman had boldly expressed his confidence at the start of the window that a replacement for Sergio Aguero would arrive, and the Blues reconsidered an offer to sign the available Cristiano Ronaldo at the last minute before neighbours United jumped in.

As Kane prepares to face the Blues for the first time since his failed move, it all appears to have worked out for the best at the Etihad. Bernardo Silva and Raheem Sterling are back playing at their best level and City have scored a whopping 98 goals in all competitions despite no recognised striker and sit clear at the top of the Premier League table.

However, Guardiola was keen to point out ahead of the game that their satisfaction at where they are now does not mean that they were fully confident when the transfer was rejected.

"We tried but it was far away to be done because Tottenham was clear this is not going to happen," he said. "And when it happens two, three, four times, it’s over. After we saw the squad and the way we played and I said we were not sure what we had to do or where we had to go.

"Now you can say ‘Harry Kane didn’t come and everything is going well’ but at the time I didn’t know it. When we lost to Spurs in the opening game and Leicester in the Community Shield. And I don’t know what will happen in the next few weeks."