Pep Guardiola has revealed Manchester City are in talks with Schalke winger Leroy Sane, but that the two clubs are still some way apart in their valuation of the player.
Speaking after losing his first game in charge of City, a 1-0 loss to former club Bayern Munich on Wednesday night, Guardiola admitted he was interested in signing the Germany international.
"Sane is a player of Schalke," Guardiola said in his post-match press conference. "Of course we talk to him - Schalke knows we are interested, but at this moment we don't have many possibilities to get him."
However, Guardiola also admitted he was unsure whether City would be successful in their pursuit of Sane.
"There's a difference between City and Schalke and it's quite big, but I don't know what's going to happen in the coming weeks and months," he added.
As for his return to the Allianz Arena, Guardiola pronounced himself satisfied with his new side's display, despite City going down to Erdal Ozturk's second-half strike.
"I am so happy, we did many things we spoke about well and in the right moment - that's why we cannot forget which team we played," he said.
"In the second half we played with a little more intensity and I'm really satisfied with what we did because we've only been together for two weeks.
"Bayern Munich is always a difficult opponent but we have to grow and get better. I think we have to play games like against Bayern Munich in order to learn and develop more - to get better.
"We have many young players in the team and you've seen them here - all in all, I'm satisfied with what they've shown me."
City will continue their pre-season preparations with a match against Manchester United in the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing on Monday.
However, Guardiola is keen for his players to continue facing tough opposition before the start of the new season.
"You have to make mistakes to get better - when you play against second or third division teams you can't see them but you can when you play against quality teams like Bayern," he said.
"They had eight or nine top players and we had a lot of young players on the pitch in the first half.
"We had Pablo Maffeo and Angelino who played amazing and of course, Brandon Barker and Zinchenko. We need time and these games to see their level and if, during the season, we can use them."