No team can match the raw talent and beauty of Pep Guardiola's Manchester City. With boatloads of cash coming from the Sheikh Mansour, the Prime Minister of the opulent nation of the United Arab Emirates, City are free to spend however much they please.
However, City have been at the forefront of one of the biggest transfer debacles in recent history; Harry Kane, the clinical forward from Tottenham, has made it clear that he no longer wants to be a part of the lackadaisical North London squad.
The "will he," "won't he" conversation has been a field day for English football journalists, who are loving every second of this conundrum. However, after City thrashed newly promoted side Norwich City 5-0, questions were raised about whether or not the current City squad really need Tottenham's star number 10.
I'll start with this, Harry Kane is not even close to being worth the 150 million pounds that Daniel Levy is asking for. While being one of the best finishers in Europe, eyebrows are always raised in regards to his fitness. Kane has always struggled with staying healthy, much like his counterpart Sergio Aguero, who just moved on to Barcelona. The big money moves now are for young and promising talents, think Erling Haaland, Jack Grealish and Kylian Mbappe. Kane, who is now 29 years old, and potentially past his physical prime, should not be in the conversation about who should have the highest market value.
Levy's gross exaggeration and City's apparent reluctance to back down is just baffling. There are so many young forwards with more promise that can be bought for half of Tottenham's asking price. This leads me to the showdown between the Canaries of Norwich and the Sky Blues of Manchester.
City looked like a completely different team as compared to the team we saw against Tottenham last week. With more ferocity going forward and an excellent partnership in the back, Norwich simply could not penetrate City's final third. Guardiola deployed his practically unbeatable false 9 formation with Ferran Torres playing in that role. On his sides were Gabriel Jesus, who was moved over to right wing and Jack Grealish, who operated as a free roaming left winger.
I'll start with Torres, who should have had a goal, but VAR determined that there was a foul in the build-up. Torres is excellent at making runs behind the back line, freeing up space for midfielders Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva to work their magic. We have seen that he is a finisher, take his hat trick last May against Newcastle. He keeps the ball close and can open space for the players on the flanks to overlap. Gabriel Jesus, who is technically City's only true striker was phenomenal on the wing, setting up Grealish's first goal in a City shirt, as well as Raheem Sterling's goal later on in the second half.
Granted, Norwich City is perhaps the worst team in the Premiership at this moment, which could explain City's rampant performance. It remains to be seen whether or not Guardiola's men can continue to preform without a sole striker, or if the bank is broken for Tottenham's all time leading scorer.
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