Harry Kane is not the striker Man City should be targeting
By Tom Gott
On paper, Manchester City and Harry Kane look like a match made in heaven.
Kane is one of the game's finest goalscorers who is looking for a team capable of winning trophies, and City are an elite chance-creating juggernaut who find themselves needing to start preparing for the departure of the prolific Sergio Aguero.
Each could solve the other's problem. However, just because they could doesn't mean they should.
Now, before we get into this, let's just clarify that a £90m bid for Kane wouldn't be bad business for City. That's the kind of price you need to pay for elite goalscorers, and Kane would 100% make City better.
However, sometimes the easiest path isn't the best one to explore, and that's the case here.
Aguero is now 32, having given City a decade of record-breaking service, and he's obviously going to need replacing soon. Bringing in Kane is an option, but the problem with that is that the Englishman will be 28 by the time this supposed £90m bid comes in.
Kane's obviously not going to start viciously declining at 28, but he'd need replacing himself in the near future. By the time Kane hits 32, City would need to prepare yet another near-£100m bid for someone new.
Financially, that's pretty unsustainable - especially when that money could buy City a younger striker instead.
90min revealed back in November 2020 that City have been keeping close eyes on Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland and Inter's Lautaro Martinez who, at 20 and 23 respectively, would be far better fits for Pep Guardiola's side.
Both players could contribute to Kane-like numbers of goals, but unlike the Englishman, they'll be able to do so for the next decade or so.
That's clearly the approach City prefer when it comes to starting strikers. Aguero was 23 when he joined back in 2011, while Gabriel Jesus, who was billed as the long-term successor to Aguero, joined at 19 and was supposed to be ready to take over when he turned 23 back in April.
It seems like City have learned from their mistake with Jesus who, for the record, isn't a bad striker. The Brazilian is obviously good enough to play in the Premier League, but perhaps not as the leading striker for a side challenging for major silverware.
That's the risk you take when you commit to a player who has just one year of senior experience in Brazil under his belt. It hasn't worked out as expected, and now City are looking for ready-made stars like Martinez and Haaland.
A £90m bid for either of those two would probably be enough to get a deal done, and that would mean City's striker position would be sorted for the next ten years.
On the other hand, spending that kind of money on Kane would likely lead to another £90m bid for another striker in four years' time - perhaps Haaland or Martinez. Why not just cut out the middle man and get a younger striker now?
Kane is obviously the safest route. He's a guaranteed source of goals in the Premier League, whereas the aforementioned youngsters would need to adapt to life in England. If City can't be bothered to wait and instead want trophies now, then Kane's the right man.
However, it's important to prepare for the long term. City haven't done that with Aguero's imminent exit, and it has left them needing to spend an astronomical fee to find someone capable of replacing the Argentine.
Haaland, Martinez or any young star striker would make more sense for City, who need to plan their next move wisely.