Former Tottenham Hotspur star Jamie Redknapp thinks Manchester City may have scuppered their status as "outstanding favourites" for a fourth Premier League title in five seasons after missing out on Harry Kane.
Following a summer of speculation touting Kane with a move to the Etihad, the Spurs star took to social media to confirm he is staying put in North London - for this summer at least.
Kane wrote on twitter: "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.
"I will be staying at Tottenham this summer and will be 100% focused on helping the team achieve success."
The news will come as a blow to City, who had harboured aspirations of adding Kane to their already star-studded ranks, which includes newest addition £100m man Jack Grealish - the most expensive player in British football history.
If City had any realistic chance of securing Kane, they would have had to break the British transfer record twice in one window, with Spurs chief Daniel Levy thought to value his star man at around £160m.
Despite Kane's desire to join the champions, a deal has failed to materialise and Redknapp feels City could now come up short.
He told Sky Sports : "It's a huge blow for Manchester City. They've left themselves in a bit of a difficult position now.
"They've obviously lost Sergio Aguero, they've got Gabriel Jesus but they won the league last season without a recognised striker and they have so many other attacking options.
"I just have a feeling that this year with crowds back, it's going to be harder than ever to win away from home. There will be a bit more pressure on you to attack and the impetus is going to be there. I think this is a huge blow for them but they must have a contingency plan."
Redknapp went on to speculate over whether the City hierarchy have already identified a back-up signing in case a Kane deal proved too difficult to broker.
"City must be thinking there is someone else they can sign because if they were to lose Jesus, it's going to leave them extremely short. I'd be amazed if they didn't get someone in during this window."
Will Man City regret missing out on Harry Kane this season? Have your say here.
The former Tottenham star also revealed how Kane staying put could prove to be good news for a number of City's title rivals.
"This is great news for Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea because I think that pretty much everyone in football would've thought had Kane gone to City, you might as well do the trophy lift now.
"But Kane staying at Spurs gives a completely different perspective to the whole season. It doesn't make Man City the outstanding favourites."
