sport news Why Pep Guardiola pulled the plug on Man City signing Harry Kane and turned to ... trends now
If things had gone differently last year it would be Harry Kane lining up for Manchester City against Erling Haaland and Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday night.
Kane, viewed by City as the best striker in the Premier League before Haaland's arrival from Dortmund, would have been a perfect fit for manager Pep Guardiola.
It is why, in the weeks after Sergio Aguero's departure last summer, they turned to the England captain.
Borussia Dortmund rebuffed Manchester City's attempts to sign Erling Haaland last year
That led the Premier League champions to turn their attentions to Tottenham's Harry Kane
City had wanted Haaland first — a dossier on the Norwegian sat in the club's database from his time as a prodigious teenager at Bryne — but were told by Wednesday's Champions League opponents to forget it.
So Project Kane was under way. A short venture, coming to an abrupt end after two conversations with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy, who insisted they were not selling. Kane's representatives offered City encouragement that Levy would change his mind yet the price tag, £150million and beyond, persuaded Guardiola to look elsewhere.
And by the time Kane was producing the best individual performance of last season, scoring twice in Tottenham's 3-2 victory at the Etihad in February, City were well on their way to securing Haaland.
They started the charm offensive to convince the striker in October, had terms in place by March and were given a definitive yes in mid-April.
Guardiola said yesterday that he was informed by sporting director Txiki Begiristain during a 'two-second' conversation and his cool response to the news was: 'OK, fine.' He may have been slightly economical with that particular truth.
But Spurs chairman Daniel Levy insisted that the club would not sell Kane for less than £150m
Haaland has made an electrifying start to his City career with 12 goals in seven games
In the end, the 22-year-old's decision came down to City and Real Madrid. The key aspect during talks was persuading him that he was ready for the rigours of English football now rather than waiting. City told him their possession-based system would lighten his physical load.
