Manchester City have failed to recruit Harry Kane from Tottenham Hotspur this summer after they struggled to agree on a fee for him in this transfer window. The English forward had decided to stay with Spurs beyond this summer which means that Man City will now have to manage with only Gabriel Jesus as their only recognized forward, at least until the transfer window reopens in January.
The Mancunian giants have made a solid start to this campaign despite their opening weekend loss at the hands of Tottenham recently. They have bounced back by picking up consecutive 5-0 victories against Norwich City and Arsenal respectively.
Kane’s Incredible Numbers At The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Last Season
Kane had another excellent campaign at North London in the previous campaign when he continued to fire in goals consistently at the highest level. The English centre-forward netted 33 goals and picked up 17 assists in 49 matches for Spurs last season on all fronts.
The London-born marksman gave a good account of himself in the final third after he averaged 1.1 clearances, 3.9 shots, 1.4 key passes and 1.5 dribbles per 90 minutes in the 2020-21 Premier League campaign. However, he was a bit careless when distributing possession deep inside the opponent’s half based on his pass completion rate of 69.9% in the English first division (stats via whoscored).
How Man City Can Cope Without Kane This Season
If Man City’s last two performances are anything to go by, Pep Guardiola’s side should have no trouble scoring and creating goals without Kane. However, there are some concerns over whether the Premier League champions have enough depth in their frontline to cope with injuries, suspensions and fixture congestion this season.
Plus, the Mancunian giants are yet to face a strong opponent, so the jury is still out on whether they can cope without a prolific centre-forward leading the line at the Etihad Stadium week in week out. Kane would have undeniably added plenty of goals and creativity to Guardiola’s attacking department.
Now that Man City has failed to land the Tottenham superstar; they would have no choice but to rely on Gabriel Jesus to step up his game and be a consistent goal-getter for them over the next ten months.
Other options for Guardiola would be to continue using Ferran Torres as a false nine forward or unleash someone like Jack Grealish or Kevin De Bruyne down the middle as a makeshift striker. Either way, the Man City head coach would need to make some tough selection decisions this season, but he still has a strong squad capable of retaining the Premier League title without Kane this season.
