Guardiola prioritize Haaland  over Kane

Manchester City Pep Guardiola signalled that Manchester will re-enter the market for strikers, and attempt to sign a marquee No 9 when the transfer window opens, having missed out on Harry Kane last summer.

Despite already scoring 103 goals in all competitions this season, Guardiola said his team still “need a striker” and are struggling to compensate, at times, for their lack of such a player. 

Erling Haaland is thought to be City’s principal target, although Guardiola still admires Kane and has been linked, in Spain, with Real Madrid’s exciting young Brazilian, Vinicius Jr.

“I think the club needs a striker, definitely,” said Guardiola, taking issue with a reporter who suggested City have been coping impressively without a recognised No9. Guardiola has been using different players as false nines, notably Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva and Raheem Sterling.

Meanwhile Gabriel Jesus, although he arrived at City as a striker, is increasingly regarded as a wide option by Guardiola and has played more times (12) on the wing than at centre forward (seven) this season.

“I’m sorry, maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t agree [City are coping without a No 9],” Guardiola said. “You say we play fantastically well without a striker because we are winning. When we are not winning, you say we need a striker, [that] I’m naïve.

“How do these guys play without a striker? In the Premier League you have to play with a striker. We try but sometimes it’s not possible. So we need a striker, I think the club is going to try.”

Haaland, 21, reportedly has a release clause in his contract with Borussia Dortmund that would allow him to leave this summer for €75 million (£62 million) but City face significant competition, notably from Barcelona, for the Norwegian. Tottenham would place a much higher pricetag on Kane, who turns 29 in July, although he underlined his potency with an exceptional performance in Tottenham Hotspur’s recent 3-2 victory over City at the Etihad Stadium.

“It hasn’t happened but we adapt,” said Guardiola with reference to City’s failed pursuit of a striker last year. “We adapt to the players [we have] and never complain. They are too good for me, I admire them and I like to work with them.

“[If] we have a striker we play in a different way. If you don’t have one you have to play in a completely different way to [Manchester] United, Southampton, Liverpool because they play another philosophy.

“In England we are a little bit like an exception for that. We have to play in this way, otherwise they are better.”