You have to take what Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says about his team’s transfer window ambitions with a grain of salt. He did say in April that the club was not going to sign a new striker this summer, yet here they are working hard on trying to close Tottenham franchise player Harry Kane.
That said, we should definitely believe him when he says City aren’t interested in signing Lionel Messi. In his news conference today, ahead of the Community Shield tomorrow, Guardiola insisted the Argentinian galactico is “absolutely not in the club’s thoughts.”
It’s worth noting of course that Manchester City have not been shy about their pursuit of Leo Messi, but they have already moved on to other superstar players. Yesterday they announced their new English transfer fee record signing, Jack Grealish.
He plays the same position as Messi and cost 100 million GBP. And with the potential to shell out 130m GBP for Kane, they are allocating their resources elsewhere. Speaking of Kane, Pep spoke about him today as well.
“He (Kane) is a player for Tottenham Hotspur and if Tottenham don’t want to negotiate, it is finished,” Guardiola said.
“I think Man City and many clubs in the world want to try to sign him, we are not an exception, but it depends on Tottenham. It is different to Jack. He had the release [clause] and Jack is different.”
“Harry is exceptional and we are interested in him but if Tottenham don’t want to negotiate, nothing more to say.”
Tottenham, who are said to be holding out for about $150m GBP or $200m for Kane, have started fining their franchise player for skipping training sessions. The 28-year-old is doing it as a ploy to try and force through the move he wants to Man City.
On the flip side of the City transfer ledger, Guardiola mentioned today a need to balance the books, as they have just shelled out a ton of cash on the Grealish signing.
The Catalan confirmed that multiple City players have asked for an exit this summer, and that includes one who has been speculated about a ton, in Bernardo Silva.
“Not just Bernardo, there are two, three, four players who want to leave but they are our players under contract and when they bring some offers and want to leave, we are open to discuss for absolutely everything with all the players in the squad,” Guardiola said.
“But it depends on them and otherwise they continue to train and I decide if they play or don’t play.”
Watch this space! What started slowly for Manchester City is now rapidly becoming an action packed summer transfer window.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune.
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