Manchester City are unwilling to pay £160million for Tottenham striker Harry Kane.
City are determined to sign England skipper Kane this summer, but insist they will not be held to ransom by Spurs over the fee.
Pep Guardiola has identified Kane as the forward to replace Sergio Aguero, who left City this summer after 10 years at the Etihad.
Kane is desperate to join City and start competing for the Premier League and Champions League, after becoming disillusioned at Tottenham.
Although City are aware they will have to shatter their own transfer record – £65m for defender Ruben Dias – to land Kane, they have made it clear they will not pay £160m for the 27-year-old.
(Image: Pool via REUTERS)
It is understood City are willing to go as high as £120m for Kane, offsetting that outlay through player sales, with Bernardo Silva and Gabriel Jesus likely to be sold to help fund the record-breaking deal.
Speaking about potential incomings this summer, Guardiola suggested it would be “impossible” for City to pay the kind of fees attached to some of the top strikers in the game.
“At the prices (quoted) we are not going to buy any strikers,” Guardiola told Catalan network TV3. “It is impossible, we cannot afford it.
“All clubs are struggling financially, we are not an exception. We have Gabriel (Jesus) and Ferran (Torres) who have been incredible in this position.
“We have young players in the academy and we play many times with a false nine. There is more of a chance we aren’t going to buy a striker for next season.”
Personal terms with Kane will not be an issue, with City ready to pay the striker in the region of £350,000-a-week, but the fee represents the biggest hurdle to the deal being concluded before the start of the new season in three weeks’ time.
Tottenham host City on August 15 on the opening weekend of the new Premier League season, and although the transfer window remains open until September 2, both clubs want any deal for Kane to be wrapped up before the new campaign begins.
Although Spurs have reiterated their stance that Kane is not for sale, there is an inevitability about the deal going ahead, but only if chairman Daniel Levy is prepared to compromise with City over his exorbitant asking price.
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