Man City boss Guardiola hails former target Kane as ‘one of the best strikers I’ve seen in my life’ | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has hailed former Man City transfer target Harry Kane as “one of the best strikers I’ve seen in my life” ahead of their match against Tottenham at the weekend.

Man City were linked with the England international in the summer of 2021 with claims that Kane wanted to leave in his quest to win transfers.

However, Kane stayed and has continued his impressive scoring form for Tottenham, while Man City invested in the signing of Erling Haaland after allowing Gabriel Jesus to move to Arsenal in the summer.

When asked about Haaland facing Kane on Sunday when Man City travel to Spurs, Guardiola told reporters (via BBC Sport): “We’re extremely happy with Erling, I think Spurs are extremely happy with Kane.

“What an exceptional player Harry is and the quality of his goals. I think Kane proves that titles don’t mean anything. He remains one of the best strikers I’ve seen in my life.

“They’re happy to have him. We’re happy to have a young player like Erling, who will hopefully play for us for many years.”

When asked about Chelsea’s huge transfer spending, Guardiola replied: “Its none of my business!”

On whether City would receive more criticism for spending what Chelsea have, Guardiola added: “Definitely, I know what would happen because we have in the last five or six years.

“What counts is winning titles. What Chelsea and the other clubs have done is not my business.

“You need good players like they [big spending teams] all believe but the market is just wow now. You have to spend to achieve. This is the reality.

“In football there’s not a position where you are completely right so we just do our best.”

Joao Cancelo left for Bayern Munich in the January transfer window but Guardiola thinks Man City will be able to cope without him.

Guardiola continued: “We can handle the situation in all departments. I trust the players. If I had the feeling, I’d say to my bosses we should do this. With Akanji, I said we should have another central defender. Nathan was injured, Ruben too, John. We had this opportunity. In this case completely different.”

Tottenham signed Pedro Porro in January and Guardiola thinks it will be a good signing for Spurs.

Guardiola said on the Spaniard: “Perfect to play five at the back, last season we suffer when we play against Sporting. This season Tottenham vs Sporting, a good signing for Spurs. No [we didn’t think about re-signing], he was on the list but we didn’t think about the buy-back. He decides to go to Spurs.”