Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has claimed he would be ‘more than happy’ with his squad if the transfer window closed without Harry Kane or any other signings arriving at the club.

The Premier League champions are in a stand-off with Spurs over England captain Kane, who Tottenham value at £150 million – and Guardiola has suggested he will be satisfied even if the two clubs cannot agree a deal by August 31.

City are thought to be refusing to increase the £100 million bid they made for Kane in June, leaving Guardiola without a direct replacement for club record scorer Sergio Aguero following his departure at the end of last season.

Asked whether he would be content with his squad if the deadline for signings closed today, Guardiola insisted: ‘Absolutely. More than happy.

‘It’s the same team, except Sergio for Jack Grealish, that we had last season.’

Misfiring City’s performance in their opening match of the new season on Sunday, when a lack of cutting edge cost them in a 1-0 defeat at Spurs, has increased the pressure on Guardiola to meet the asking price for Tottenham’s talisman.

Grealish added even more creativity to an already impressive midfield when he joined for £100 million from Aston Villa earlier this month, but City’s attacking options appeared to be a more urgent concern at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Guardiola reflected: ‘We have to play for 111 points [in the remaining] 37 games. I cannot deny we would have preferred to have three points [to begin the season].

‘We have to start to win points, of course, if we want to be near the top of the league. I would like to see the team be a little bit better, in many aspects, than the game against Spurs.’

The pensive-looking boss singled out his team’s distance between lines, passing accuracy and retention, fitness, transition play and aggression in the final third among the elements he wants to improve, as well as set pieces.

‘In football, there are 1,000 things that you cannot work on in just a few days,’ he added. ‘We can do better.