Leicester City 1-0 Manchester City: Are Pep Guardiola's side missing a striker?

Pep Guardiola was asked if the defeat of Leicester in the Community Shield highlighted Manchester City's need for a striker. His answer was emphatic "No."The City boss is not in panic after he won the Premier League title without a frontman. He was also without several of his creative players during Saturday's Wembley defeat.Jack Grealish made his debut on Thursday as a substitute in the second half, while Raheem Sterling and Kevin de Bruyne are still to be seen in City's attack.According to reports, Harry Kane is worth 160m. The Spaniard stated that City are open to negotiations for Harry Kane.They need to break the transfer record once again in order to get the England captain."City needs top-quality strikers to maintain momentum"Guardiola was without Sergio Aguero, the club's most prolific goalscorer, for much of last season. This didn't cause them any harm, as they were Premier League's top scorers.However, Aguero at Barcelona and Gabriel Jesus being understood to be unhappy make it difficult for Manchester City to continue their title defense and Champions League assault without real firepower.In the third quarter of last season's Champions League final defeat to Chelsea, they were subdued. This raises concerns that a top-class striker might still be needed for success in Europe.Roy Keane, former Manchester United captain, said that Pep would be fuming along with some senior players after Saturday's defeat. They threw away the game. He is a winner, and he will be fuming.They do have Sterling options in the middle. Pep will think they need a top quality striker to maintain the momentum with all they want to accomplish this season with the Champions League or the Premier League.If City wants to defend their title, they may face a tough test.Manchester United's winger Jadon Sáncho and Raphael Varane are now in demand. Chelsea is close to signing Romelu Lukaku, a massive 97.5m deal.Ian Wright, a former forward for England and Arsenal, answered the question "Yes." City is the only team that can manage without a striker. But how long can they do it? They have to do something. Look at Chelsea and Leicester."Chelsea will push next year, they are serious players, and - with Lukaku- will cause massive problems."Matt Upson, an ex-england defender, said on BBC Radio 5 Live that they won the Premier League sharing the goals with Ilkay Gundogan, the top scorer with thirteen goals. Are they going to make it big again?"They haven’t worked Kasper Schmeichel. This is a clear indication of the team's creativity. It is up to them to find a center forward who can score 25 goals per season.Jack Grealish was a substitute in the 65th minute for his Manchester City debut'We were so good'City's loss at Wembley was not without exception. De Bruyne, Foden and Sterling were both injured and Sterling and Jesus were still recovering from their performances for their respective countries in the summer.Two teenagers were part of the City team's new lineup - Cole Palmer and Sam Edozie, who were both midfielders. Former striker KelechiIheanacho scored a late penalty to give the Foxes victory.Guardiola was asked if Aguero needed to be replaced. He replied, "It depends if that is possible. If it's possible, we will do it. If not, we will go without a striker."Tomorrow, seven to eight players will return. "That's why I think at the start of the season, we will try and get results without being our best."We are aware that we won't be at our best, but the players will be more effective next Sunday. This is what we must do.Kane's move to England remains to be seen. The striker for England said that he "never refused" to train for Tottenham, and believes he has a gentleman’s agreement with Daniel Levy.Guardiola said, "With a bit of luck and better decisions in the last third we could have scored. We were so good. This is the first step in attempting to compete again this season."I would have loved the chance to win this game. We are very proud of Leicester's victory. It was a great stage in the season and it was great to play the young men.