With less than a week to go until the transfer window closes, the Premier League’s summer-long saga is seemingly at an end.
And the only man happy about it is Tottenham Hotspur owner Daniel Levy.
Having looked destined to leave Spurs in search of silverware, signalling his intent to leave the North London club should they fail to qualify for the Champions League back in April, Harry Kane has confirmed he will actually be staying at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
“It was incredible to see the reception from the Spurs fans on Sunday and to read some of the messages of support I've had in the last few weeks,” the England captain tweeted on Wednesday.
“I will be staying at Tottenham this summer and will be 100% focused on helping the team achieve success.”
READ MORE: Kylian Mbappe, Jurgen Klopp and the £176.8m truth about Liverpool transfer
Perhaps such an outcome should not be a surprise. Afterall, Levy is not known for being a soft touch in the transfer market.
And while Man City had looked destined to sign Kane after his intention to quit Spurs became public knowledge, Pep Guardiola had insisted his side would struggle to finance a move for a new striker when addressing Sergio Aguero’s imminent departure back in April.
“There is a big chance that because of the economic situation in the world right now, we are not going to sign a striker next season,” the Spaniard has insisted.
"With these prices we are not going to buy any striker. Sorry, we are not going to buy any striker. It's impossible. We cannot afford it. It's impossible so that is not going to happen. All the clubs struggle financially, and we are not an exception.
"We have Gabriel Jesus, we have Ferran Torres, who played incredibly this season in that position, we have young players in the academy, and we play many times with a false nine.
"I don't know what's going to happen, maybe it is going to happen, but maybe we are not going to buy any striker for the next season.
"Today there is more chance we are not going to buy any striker for the next season."
Despite Guardiola’s pleas of poverty, the evidence over the summer had suggested otherwise.
City even had a £100m transfer bid rejected for his services back in June with Levy said to be wanting £150m if he was to be persuaded to sell his club’s talisman.
And when the reigning champions signed Jack Grealish from Aston Villa in an English record £100m at the start of the month, it seemed only a matter of time before they would break that figure again to sign Kane in what would have been a major statement to European football.
Yet, with six days of the transfer window remaining, it appears Guardiola was right - after a fashion - following the striker’s latest declaration.
And Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp will have certainly been watching such events unfold with interest, having previously admitted his bemusement at how the likes of Man City, Chelsea and Manchester United have been able to spend as much as they have when addressing Kane’s future.
"We all know the situation of Chelsea, we all know the situation of City, we all know the situation of PSG, for example,” he said earlier this month. “United I don't know exactly how they do it, but we have obviously our way to do it.
“That was always the same, we can spend, we are allowed to spend the money we earn, that’s what we always did. This year we spent even before we earn money on Ibrahima Konate because after last season it was clear we cannot take any risks in this position at all.
“That’s our situation, it’s not about me being surprised, I am never surprised by the financial power of Chelsea or City or United, I’m long enough in the country to know they always find a solution to do these kind of things.
“Of course all the players the clubs have signed have real quality - and if Harry is really going to Man City that would not make them worse! So that's incredible.
"But City were probably the best team last year and won the league, yes, but didn't win exactly the one they wanted. That's the situation. So there are different things you can do in football.
"There is no criticism at all. I don't understand it 100 per cent how it is possible, but it seems to be possible for them and that is the situation."
Klopp added: "We cannot compare with the other clubs, they obviously don't have any limits. We have limits.
"But we were quite successful even when having limits in the last few years and that's what we shall try again and not use it as an excuse. If we don't win a game we won't say 'it's because we didn't sign him or him'.
“For us, it’s our way. we keep the team together, that’s an important part of business as well. I knows its not as exciting as signing players to the outside world but the summer is always the same, people think if you don’t sign you don’t work. That is not the case.
"We want to use our sources - that's passion, a good way, desire, a clear plan, direction, flexibility. That's our football, that's what we want to use. Let's see which is the right way.
"We cannot spend money we don't have. We cannot, maybe others can, but we can't."
Yet it appears that while City certainly have more money than Liverpool, evidently it is not enough to sign Kane with last season’s Premier League Golden Boot winner’s enforced stay at Tottenham certainly leaving the title-race wide open between last year’s top four with no clear favourite.
City might not be able to sign Kane but have brought in Grealish, while Chelsea spent a club-record £97.5m to re-sign Romelu Lukaku earlier this month and are reportedly also still in the market for Jules Kounde.
Elsewhere, Manchester United parted with a combined £107m to acquire Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane
In contrast, Liverpool have only spent £36m so far on Konate but have welcomed back a number of key players from injury and tied others down to new long-term contracts to ensure they remain in contention.
It remains to be seen whether the Reds will bolster their ranks further before Tuesday’s transfer deadline, or if City will now target a striker elsewhere.
But there is a rather obvious solution to Guardiola’s ‘striking woes’ who seems to currently be available as the window enters its final days.
Kylian Mbappe.
The World Cup winner saw Lionel Messi join him at PSG earlier this month on a free transfer after Barcelona were unable to afford to keep him, and City’s own pursuits of Grealish and Kane saw them fail to make a move for the legendary Argentine.
But they might not be willing to pass up an opportunity to sign Mbappe so easily with reports in France suggesting he could leave the club this week.
With his contract set to expire next summer, the forward has been offered a new five-year deal by PSG, but reports in France claim he has rejected that offer, partly because it would still see him paid less than both Messi and Neymar.
Free to sign a pre-contract agreement with an overseas club from January as a result, RMC Sport suggested PSG could make the difficult decision to move the 22-year-old in the next week to avoid any risk of losing him on a free transfer.
With Mbappe continuing to be tentatively linked with the likes of Real Madrid and Liverpool, the report also suggested there has been no approach to PSG from Spain - and the only side to show concrete interest in recent weeks is an unnamed English club.
Since then, Madrid have had an £137m bid rejected for the 22-year-old while the reported unnamed English club remains the subject of speculation.
But it does seem that he could indeed move on after PSG sporting director Leonado confirmed the striker wants to leave the Parc des Princes.
"Kylian Mbappe wants to leave, that seems clear," the Brazilian told French media. "If he wants to leave, we will not stop him, but on our terms."
Now Reds interest in the striker has repeatedly been dismissed with Klopp admitting Liverpool don’t boast the funds it would take to sign Mbappe.
Speaking in 2019 when asked about Liverpool's reported interest in Mbappe, he said: "Buying this calibre of player is difficult. I don't see any club at the moment who can buy Kylian Mbappe from PSG.
"We are involved in the clubs that cannot do it. It is as easy as that. Okay, from a sporting point of view there are not a lot of reasons to not sign him. What a player he is.
"But it is about the money, of course. No chance. Absolutely no chance. Sorry for killing that story."
But could that unnamed club be Man City?
With Chelsea already spending big on Lukaku and United bolstering their attacking ranks with Sancho, to go alongside the likes of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Edinson Cavani and Mason Greenwood, it is slim pickings when it comes to deciphering which English club could logically move for Mbappe.
If you take Guardiola’s claims of City financial woe at face-value, as demonstrated by their failure to sign Kane, of course you can cross the reigning Premier League champions’ name off the list too.
But despite such pleas, they still signed Grealish for £100m and offered the same amount for Kane.
And if you’re being quoted £150m for a 28-year-old at a club who don’t want to sell, parting with a similar fee for a 22-year-old World Cup winner from a side who might have to sell really is a no-brainer.
As a result, the next few days - and perhaps even the January window - will help decipher the true reality of Man City’s financial ‘constraints’.
As Klopp warned, they always find a way. But so to do Real Madrid.
Having only brought in David Alaba on a free transfer this summer, the likes of Gareth Bale remaining on their inflated wage bill demonstrate how they too have been stung by La Liga’s new financial rules - even if not to the same extent as fierce foes Barcelona.
Liverpool are obvious admirers of Mbappe but are well-aware of their limitations, which will only be emphasised by what Real Madrid and Man City do next, and are highly unlikely to make a move for his services as a result.
It is a statement the Reds simply cannot afford to make.
But is it one Man City or Real Madrid can bring themselves to resist?
Kane staying at Tottenham might temporarily enhance Klopp’s side’s chances of Premier League or Champions League glory this season, but the door equally remains open to that nightmare Mbappe scenario at the Etihad if a move to Madrid is not forthcoming.
