It’s common knowledge that City want to sign Kane,

It’s common knowledge that City want to sign Kane, but how will they set up before any transfer is finalised?

Manchester City head into their Premier League curtain raiser in a peculiar situation.

All summer City have been chasing the signature of Spurs and England striker Harry Kane, yet on Sunday afternoon they could well line up against him.

If Kane does play and proves to be the difference, City will experience first hand just what they will be getting — or missing out on.

With Spurs and Daniel Levy still playing hard-ball on a potential deal, and new coach Nuno Espirito Santo considering Kane to be firmly in his plans, it’s looking more and more unlikely that City will get their man.

If that proves to be the case, then Pep Guardiola’s team selection on Saturday will be a good indicator of how City will approach the season without Kane. Question is: Which is best?In the biggest games last season, Guardiola often reverted to a system that he had used to great effect before; the false nine. Historically the striker-less system has never had a foot-hold in Premier League football, but after City’s success with it last season, you feel it could catch on.

Several players played the role for the Blues last season. In the win at Chelsea in January, arguably City’s best performance of the season, Kevin De Bruyne played the part. At Liverpool it was Phil Foden and at Arsenal, Bernardo Silva and De Bruyne alternated.

In the Champions League semi-final wins against PSG, De Bruyne again stepped in, while in the Carabao Cup win against Manchester United earlier in the campaign, it was Riyad Mahrez.

The benefits of playing without a recognised striker are numerous. Having a player that lines up in the No.9 position, but then drops deep, can draw the centre-backs out to create space in behind for runners.

It also allows Guardiola to cram more midfielders into the team. Getting the likes of Bernardo, Ilkay Gundogan, De Bruyne and Rodri all on the pitch at the same time means City keep the ball more and easily control games. If the other team doesn’t get the ball, they can’t score.

The lack of a traditional striker also allows others to get themselves into scoring positions, as we saw with Gundogan last season. The German was able to bomb forward into the vacant space and contribute 13 league goals, making him City’s top scorer in the Premier League in 2020-21.

However, the false nine system can become predictable if used too often. In the Champions League final Chelsea were able to nullify its effectiveness by refusing to be drawn out by De Bruyne’s movement.

Sometimes it can also be useful to have more of a presence up top and feed them with through balls and crosses.

Gabriel Jesus

If Kane doesn’t arrive at the Etihad Stadium this summer, then City’s only striker-by-trade will be Gabriel Jesus.

This will be the Brazilian’s fifth full season at the club, but having failed to nail down a regular starting berth to date, he could soon seek a move away.

Jesus made 22 Premier League starts last season before the switch to the false nine system, but a modest return of nine goals didn’t exactly blow the roof off.

Jesus does have a significant upside. He now knows Guardiola’s system cover to cover, while he offers pace, trickery and incisiveness in attack. Coincidentally, it was Jesus who led City’s attack in both league meetings with Spurs last season. The first was a 2-0 loss, the second a 3-0 win.

There is no doubting that Jesus is a talented striker and at 24 he still has time to develop, but there is a feeling among Citizens that he isn’t the long-term answer up front.

Ferran Torres

Ferran Torres arrived at City last summer having spent most of his fledgling career as a right winger, but he showed on more than one occasion that he could make the No.9 role his own.

The pick of his cameos up front came away to Newcastle at the end of last season, where a clinical showing saw him score his first hat-trick for the club.

Ferran possesses many of the qualities needed to be a top striker – instinct, clinical finishing, intelligence and aerial ability – yet perhaps owing to his relative lack of experience, he is prone to going missing, as he did in the recent Community Shield defeat.

At 21 years old his game still needs to mature, but it might yet be a few years before he is the elite striker City want.

Verdict

With Foden and De Bruyne unavailable for selection and the likes of Raheem Sterling and Jack Grealish not fully up to speed, City might not have the personnel to employ a false nine against Spurs on Sunday.

It seems more likely that Torres will start up front ahead of Jesus, given the latter’s shorter pre-season.

And if City don’t sign Kane this summer? Given its success last season the false nine system seems the way to go, with the occasional smattering of Jesus and Ferran.