EXCLUSIVE
BARGAIN
Manchester City have been told to forget signing Harry Kane for £150million and instead make a move to bring Romelu Lukaku back to the Premier League.
talkSPORT hosts Darren Bent and Jamie O’Hara would love to see the Belgium striker back in the English top flight, and says a move to the Etihad Stadium would be ‘a match made in heaven’.
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With City close to a £100m deal for Aston Villa and England star Jack Grealish, reports have widely claimed Pep Guardiola will then begin working on a deal to take Kane away from boyhood club Tottenham.
Kane has made no secret of his desire to pursue top honours and City are the best placed side to give him the shot at glory his talent deserves, as well as being one of the other clubs in European football to be able to afford him.
And given Grealish is set to sign, Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is unlikely to accept much less that £150m for the England captain and Spurs talisman.
But City have been told there is a much better value signing up for grabs in Lukaku.
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The 28-year-old has made it clear publicly he has no plans to leave Inter, who he helped win the Serie A title last season, but rumours over a possible return to the Premier League have not gone away.
Lukaku has gone from strength to strength since leaving Manchester United in 2019, with a record of 64 goals and 16 assists in 95 games in Italy.
Former Premier League striker Bent is a huge fan and insists he should be City’s first-choice target this summer over Kane, insisting his strong Belgium partnership with Kevin De Bruyne makes it a no-brainer.
“I think people find excuses not to rate Romelu Lukaku,” said the talkSPORT pundit.
“If you’re asking me £150million for Harry Kane or £90m for Lukaku, it’s not even a debate, I’m going for Lukaku all day.
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“Him and De Bruyne are already tight, it’s a match made in heaven.”
Former Tottenham midfielder O’Hara agrees, telling the station he’d love to see the striker back in English football.
“The reason I love Lukaku is he occupies defenses on his own,” O’Hara added.
“He’s strong, he’s got great hold-up play, he’s a bully, he makes it so hard for other teams. When you’ve got a centre-forward like that, it is absolutely massive.
Jose Mourinho believes the love 'amazing' Romelu Lukaku has received from Antonio Conte and Inter Milan has brought the best out of him
“Harry Kane is a special player, he can drop into pockets and get on balls, play little nice key passes, but when you’ve got a striker like Lukaku who is up there and just an absolute brute, it’s unbelievable to have in your team.
“He makes bad balls into good balls, he can finish, he leads the line, he occupies centre-halves.
“For me, he is absolutely brilliant. I love him to come back to the Premier League, I really would.”