Manchester City manager backed his club’s transfer record on eve of Tottenham game overshadowed by Harry Kane talk
Pep Guardiola is the big spender whose greatest triumphs came on the cheap, even if it may not make him the poster boy for penury. As he cited his cut-price Champions League wins, the impression he gave is that he sees them as part of football’s rich tapestry. Guardiola is set to become the first manager to field a £100m footballer in the Premier League – and if he has his way then Jack Grealish will only possess the status as the division’s record signing for a few weeks.
If Sunday’s game at Tottenham doubles up as a tug of war for Harry Kane’s services, money may form a familiar backdrop. Guardiola can be an alchemist of a coach and an inventive tactician, but he is familiar with the accusation he has become a chequebook manager. English football’s maiden nine-figure buy may be used in the case for the prosecution. Tottenham offered £25m for Grealish in 2018; perhaps Daniel Levy’s reluctance to go higher amounted to a false economy as, three years later, Manchester City paid four times as much for the Aston Villa captain.
