Pep Guardiola not upset Manchester City missed out on Tottenham's Harry Kane

England's loudest transfer saga of last summer ended with a whimper when striker Harry Kane remained with Tottenham Hotspur through the end of August despite repeated links with reigning Premier League champions Manchester City. 

Kane, who reportedly wanted to join City at the time, didn't feature when Tottenham defeated the champs 1-0 in August, but the blue portion of Manchester has since risen back to the top of the league table and is likely headed toward another title. Ahead of Saturday's rematch between the clubs, City boss Pep Guardiola told reporters the failure to acquire Kane didn't upset him even though his side suffered back-to-back defeats to open the campaign. 

"I never was, in my 11 or 12 years, disappointed in what the club cannot do in the transfer market," Guardiola explained, according to Rob Dawson of ESPN. "I've never created a fire here because I represent the club and the club is always beyond myself by far.

"We tried [to sign Kane] but it was far away to be done because Tottenham was clear this is not going to happen. And when it happens two, three, four times, it's over. Now you can say 'Harry Kane didn't come and everything is going well' but at the time I didn't know it. When we lost to Spurs and Leicester in the Community Shield. And I don't know what will happen in the next few weeks." 

Even without the three-time Premier League Golden Boot winner in the squad, City have pulled away from second-place Liverpool and are nine points clear atop the table. They're also well on pace to advance to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League following a 5-0 thrashing of Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday.