Harry Kane at Man City would have made big difference and Pep Guardiola knows it

Watching the graceful fluidity of Manchester City as they flowed through and around Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday night, you might wonder what they ever saw in the attraction of Harry Kane.

And when you take a casual glance at Kane ’s goalscoring record this season, five in 21 Premier League games - fewer than City ’s “non-goalscorers” Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne - that wonder simply increases.

Kane goes up against the Blues at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, for the first time since his attempt to wrangle a transfer from his stubborn chairman Daniel Levy failed, and the contrast in fortunes between his Tottenham and the City team he wanted to join could be made even more stark.

If City can keep their rich vein of form going, and Spurs suffer as abysmally as they have done lately, that clash will be one-sided and reinforce the misguided notion that the league leaders simply do not need a striker.

Not in Pep Guardiola’s head. Make no mistake, he wanted a recognised goalscorer last summer, and Kane was the one he wanted. And he still wants one now.

While the Blues won the title last season without a recognised striker - apart from Sergio Aguero’s sporadic appearances in an injury-hit final season - Guardiola is of the opinion that they won it, and reached the Champions League final, despite not having a striker, and not because of it.

Being lulled in by City’s mesmeric rhythm, and their use of a false nine to twist and break defensive formations, it is easy to think that football does not get much better than this.

Guardiola does not think so. Despite employing Lionel Messi as a false nine to devastating effect at Barca, he has always tended to operate with a striker -