Pep Guardiola avoids Harry Kane transfer talk ahead of Man City's Premier League opener with Spurs
Pep Guardiola: "He is a player from Tottenham, I'm not going to talk about him. I made an exception last time, normally I don't talk about transfers." Watch Tottenham vs Man City live on Sky Sports Premier League & Sky Sports Main Event on Sunday from 4pm
Friday 13 August 2021 14:17, UK
Pep Guardiola refused to discuss Manchester City's interest in Harry Kane ahead of Sunday's Premier League opener against Tottenham.
The Premier League champions have been linked with the England captain throughout the summer and Guardiola admitted last week that City would like to sign him.
Kane has since returned to training with Spurs and, according to Nuno Espirito Santo, could yet feature against City this weekend.
"I answered this question the previous press conference," Guardiola said when he faced the media ahead of the game. "He is a player from Tottenham, I'm not going to talk about him.
"I made an exception last time, normally I don't talk about transfers. That's all."
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City travel to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to begin their title defence on Sunday.
Guardiola said: "Every season since I arrived I have had the feeling it's tougher, stronger, better teams.
"Every season is a new challenge. We celebrated our title but now it's in our cabinet, in our memories, and we start again."
City playmaker Kevin De Bruyne will miss the start of the season as he recovers from an ankle injury suffered on international duty for Belgium at Euro 2020.
"He's getting better, every day but we're still waiting," said Guardiola. "He cannot do the full training session. We'll see what happens in the next days."
More to follow…
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Will Man City be left playing catch-up?
Manchester City were down in 11th place after eight games last season. After back-to-back draws with Manchester United and West Brom in mid-December they had won just five of their first 12 fixtures.
Then they turned it on.
Fifteen wins on the spin in the Premier League - amid a run of 21 in all competitions - propelled them 14 points clear at the top of the table by early March. There was no catching them from there.
That streak was an incredible feat, accomplished during the winter months, when fixtures, different competitions, injuries and illness came thick and fast. It was one of the finest pieces of mastery and management of Pep Guardiola's career.
But such was its brilliance, that epic effort is not something that City can be expected to repeat. And that means there is real pressure on how they start this new Premier League campaign.
They're up against it, with tough fixtures on their schedule and player fitness and availability a major concern.
