Pep Guardiola refused to be drawn on renewed interest in Harry Kane with the Tottenham striker set to face Manchester City in Sunday's Premier League opener.
The City boss confirmed the club's interest in Kane at his news conference ahead of the Community Shield final and Goal reported in June that City were set to make a £100 million ($139m) offer in June.
City travel to Tottenham on Sunday in the Premier League opener adding another level of intrigue to the transfer saga which has rumbled on for much of the season.
What has been said?
Kane returned to first-team training at Hotspur Way on Friday with new boss Nuno yet to make a decision on whether he will be available for the game.
Amid reports of a £127million ($175m) bid for Kane, Guardiola said: "I answered this question the previous press conference. He's a player from Tottenham, I'm not going to talk about him. I made an exception last time, usually I don't talk about transfers."
Asked if City can be as successful as last season playing without a striker, he added: "We played with recognised strikers with [Sergio] Aguero and Gabriel [Jesus]. Unfortunately Aguero was injured, always when he was fit he was an important part of the team.
"He was a proper striker and Gabriel is a proper striker. Sometimes we play with a different approach, but the intention is the same to control the game and score as much as possible, with or without a striker."
The bigger picture
Goal understands Spurs chairman Daniel Levy is still not considering selling the England international, although a huge bid could yet change his mind.
Kane wants the move to go through and has made no secret about his desire to want to win trophies, and views City as the place to make those ambitions a reality.
Now 28, this could be his last opportunity for Tottenham to attract a large fee for their star striker, but they are under no pressure to sell with Kane still having three years remaining on a six-year deal signed in 2018.
City have already broken the British transfer record by completing the signing of Jack Grealish for £100m ($139m) from Aston Villa.
Further reading
- Sterling: £100m Grealish is not a threat to me
- Why Man City have no regrets about missing out on Messi
- £100m Grealish must lead Man City's title defence
