MANCHESTER, England: Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is 鈥渧ery interested鈥� in signing striker Harry Kane but he needs Tottenham to come to the negotiation table.
The England captain wants out of Tottenham and has indicated City is his preferred destination.
鈥淗arry Kane is an exceptional, extraordinary striker, no doubts about that,鈥� Guardiola said Friday. 鈥淥f course we are very interested in him but he鈥檚 a Tottenham player and if they don鈥檛 want to negotiate, nothing more to say. If they want to, we will try. That鈥檚 all.鈥�
Kane plans to return to training with Tottenham on Saturday 鈥� eight days before City visits for the season opener. He said on Twitter that 鈥渋t hurts鈥� to read comments by fans questioning his professionalism.
鈥淲hile I won鈥檛 go into the specifics of the situation, I want to clarify that I would never, and have never, refused to train,鈥� he wrote Friday. 鈥淚 will be returning to the club tomorrow, as planned.鈥�
He鈥檚 under contract with the north London club until 2024 but has been open with his frustration about the direction of the team and lack of trophies. Tottenham鈥檚 seventh-place finish last season left it out of the Champions League.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a player for Tottenham Hotspur,鈥� Guardiola said. 鈥淚f Tottenham don鈥檛 want (to) negotiate, it鈥檚 finished. If they are open to negotiate, of course not (only) Man City, many clubs in the world would want to try to sign him, we are not an exception. But it depends on Tottenham.鈥�
City broke the British transfer fee record on Thursday to sign midfielder Jack Grealish from Aston Villa. The Premier League champions paid a fee of 100 million pounds ($139 million).
Grealish鈥檚 contract had a release clause, unlike Kane鈥檚, Guardiola noted.
It might take a new record to persuade Tottenham to sell Kane to a rival.
And Nuno Espirito Santo addressed the issue at his first press conference as Tottenham manager, saying last month: 鈥淟ook, Harry is our player, period. No need to talk about anything else.鈥�