PEP GUARDIOLA revealed Manchester City were knocked back FOUR times for Harry Kane last summer.
Etihad boss Pep said: “We tried but it was far away from being done because Tottenham were clear this is not going to happen.
“And when that happens two, three, four times, it’s over.”
Guardiola still wants a striker in the summer — but 28-year-old Kane is now likely to be down the pecking order.
The Spaniard feared the saga would derail their title defence when Spurs stood firm on a £160million valuation.
City were never going to pay that and the 51-year-old comes up against the striker he wanted when the teams go head-to-head this evening.
But with 98 goals this term, they have not missed Kane.
Guardiola said: “Now you can say, ‘Harry Kane didn’t come and everything is going well’ but at the time I didn’t know it.
“We lost to Spurs on opening day and Leicester in the Community Shield.
“And I don’t know what will happen in the next few weeks.”
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Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland is set to be the top target but City have a fall-back option in Julian Alvarez.
They signed the 22-year-old Argentina international for £14m but loaned him back to River Plate until the summer.
Pep added: “The club is working, watching managers, keepers, full-backs, central defenders, attacking midfielders, strikers. It never stops.
“We have not got a guy who is going to score 25 or 30 goals but need three or four to get ten or 12 and we’ll be close to winning the title.”
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