Pep Guardiola has revealed his Manchester City side made four attempts to sign Harry Kane from Tottenham Hotspur during the summer transfer window.
The Spaniard wanted England captain Kane, 28, to lead his line at the Premier League champions but the two sides could not agree on a fee.
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy wanted in the region of £150 million which suitors City refused to pay.
City, who face Kane’s Tottenham on Saturday, are nine points clear of second-placed Liverpool despite not having an out and out striker to call upon.
And Guardiola has said he was never frustrated with his employers despite not being able to land one of his primary targets.
“Now you can say, ‘Harry Kane didn’t come and everything is going well’ but at the time I didn’t know it,” said Guardiola. "We tried but Tottenham were clear that it was not going to happen. When that happens two, three, four times, it’s over.
“After that, we saw the squad and we were not sure. We then lost at Spurs and against Leicester in the Community Shield.
“I never was disappointed in what the club cannot do in the transfer market. I’ve never created a fire here. When we have some talks and we cannot agree, we do it internally.”
Kane has scored 15 goals in 33 games for Tottenham so far this season with only five of those coming in the Premier League.
City have signed 22-year-old Argentina international Julian Alvarez to fill a void in attack but he will remain on loan at River Plate until the summer at the very least.
Guardiola added: “Julian scored three goals in the last game for River Plate and Man City made an incredible deal because he is a player who moves really well, the goals he scores are like Jamie Vardy’s. We’ll see what happens in the future.”
(Photo: Chloe Knott – Danehouse/Getty Images)