Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has revealed that Tottenham Hotspur rejected four bids from Man City for striker Harry Kane in the summer.

The England captain's future in North London was in doubt throughout last summer until the transfer window deadline which came after this campaign has already started, and Kane was strongly linked with a move to the Etihad.

Guardiola's side were in the market for a new striker after Sergio Aguero departed for Barcelona, but they have seemingly not faced a struggle without a recognised number nine, currently sitting nine points clear at the top of the Premier League.

Ahead of the Citizen's clash with Spurs on Saturday, Guardiola said: "Now you can say, Harry Kane didn't come and everything is going well, but at the time I didn't know it.

"We tried but Tottenham were clear that it was not going to happen. When that happens two, three, four times, it's over. After that we saw the squad and we were not sure. We then lost at Spurs and against Leicester in the Community Shield.

"I never was disappointed in what the club cannot do in the transfer market. I've never created a fire here. When we have some talks and we cannot agree, we do it internally."

Kane has not managed to reach the heights of his previous form in Premier League seasons gone by, scoring five times in 21 appearances this term.