Transfer news and analysis from Man City plus the latest from Pep Guardiola; Summer transfer window runs from June 9 to August 31
Monday 24 May 2021 14:51, UK
The transfer window opens on June 9 but what do champions Man City need to do this summer as they bid to retain their Premier League crown?
Pep Guardiola might have repeatedly played down the chances amid the financial ripples of the pandemic but Manchester City continue to be linked with a move for a big-name striker this summer.
Sky Sports News has already reported City - along with Manchester United and Chelsea - have been in touch with Harry Kane's representatives after the Tottenham striker told his club he wants to leave.
City also have Erling Haaland, Romelu Lukaku and Danny Ings on their list of targets as they look to replace the departing Sergio Aguero.
But Kane wants to stay in the Premier League and has cast his own admiring glances at the champions, admitting Kevin De Bruyne's delivery is a "striker's dream".
"When I watch De Bruyne play he's a special, special player and some of the balls I see him put in for City are just a striker's dream if I'm honest," Kane told Gary Neville's The Overlap YouTube channel. "He's an outstanding player with the ball, off the ball, pressing, but his delivery is as good as I've ever seen, to be honest."
City might be hunting an Aguero successor but they also need a long-term replacement for midfield general Fernandinho. The 36-year-old is set to stay on for another season but City remain on the hunt for fresh legs in the middle of the park and have continued to monitor Borussia Monchengladbach's Denis Zakaria this season after making enquiries about him last summer.
City have continued to scour the globe for upcoming talent and confirmed at the start of May a deal for 18-year-old winger Dario Sarmiento from Argentinian side Estudiantes.
The stats match the eye test: Guardiola's side have been utterly dominant, streaking ahead after a stuttering start.
They finish the campaign top of the rankings in key attacking metrics, such as goals and expected goals - as well as defensive ones. Ruben Dias' arrival proved a masterstroke; his partnership with John Stones at the heart of defence played a key part in City's Premier League triumph, with just 32 goals conceded.
Guardiola famously rotates his side, making a league-topping 136 changes to his starting XI in the Premier League this term - and the goals have been spread between a league-high 16 players. But only Ilkay Gundogan and Raheem Sterling reached double figures; an incoming striker to hit that mark too would surely be welcome.
On signing a striker: "There is a big chance we are not going to sign a striker this summer.
"We have enough players in the first-team right now and we have interesting players in the academy, so there is a big chance that, because of the economic situation in the world right now, we are not going to sign a striker next season.
"We have Gabriel Jesus, we have Ferran Torres, who played incredibly this season in that position, we have young players in the academy, and we play many times with a false nine."
Torres scored a hat-trick in a topsy-turvy recent 4-3 win over Newcastle and Guardiola took the opportunity again to talk up the Spaniard as a potential No. 9.
"He came as a winger, but he has to think about being a striker. When Sergio, Gabriel were out, he was there. He scored against Leeds and Crystal Palace. He didn't have many minutes, but when he played, he had a sense of goal. The smell, the strikers know, intuitively where it will arrive. He has this talent."
Still, the questions have kept coming about the likelihood of a traditional centre-forward arriving this summer.
Asked about Kane in the final pre-match press conference of the season, Pep stayed coy: "He's a player for Tottenham. It is not correct for me to talk about that."
Sky Sports News' Ben Ransom writes: "It's little secret that Manchester City are firmly in the market for a central striker this summer, a position they have been scouting for a long time to find the heir to Sergio Aguero.
"The Argentine's departure is now upon us, and given he leaves the Etihad having scored more goals for the club than anyone else in history, he also leaves the biggest possible boots to fill.
"The potential problem for City will inevitably be the cost of buying a replacement, as both ideal targets Harry Kane and Erling Haaland will cost more than £100m. Three times City have gone to between £60-65m for players - Riyad Mahrez, Rodri and most recently FWA Player of the Year Ruben Dias - but never have they paid more.
"But perhaps things are changing.
"Earlier this year I asked Pep Guardiola whether he could see the club spending such an amount on a single player, and he hinted for the right player they might be prepared to change their strategy, telling me that "maybe in the future it's going to happen when the club decides it's necessary to improve the team for the next five or 10 years. There's no doubting both Kane and Haaland fit into that category.
"If, as is now widely expected, Fernandinho extends his stay at City for another season, then that would enable the club to focus all of their attention and financial resources on finally getting their Aguero replacement.
"The challenge will be making either deal happen given neither Tottenham nor Dortmund will play anything other than hardball."
