Manchester City are scaling back their efforts to buy British players this summer amid fears they will be too difficult to sign.

City are keen to increase their homegrown pool as they try to meet Premier League quotas.

But Sportsmail has learned that Txiki Begiristain will be pursuing alternative targets. City's sporting director believes the British players good enough to improve their squad will be too difficult to acquire.

Pep Guardiola is ready to ditch his summer raid on Premier League rivals Tottenham

Tottenham trio Dele Alli, Kyle Walker and Danny Rose are all interesting manager Pep Guardiola but Begiristain realises prising any of them away from White Hart Lane this summer will be an extremely troublesome challenge, with the England internationals all signed to long-term deals.

With the trio set to play key roles under Mauricio Pochettino in the Champions League next season, they are unlikely to push for moves away from north London.

Similarly, City have long-standing interest in Arsenal duo Jack Wilshere and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain but know Arsenal will be reluctant to sell the pair to direct rivals.

PFA Young Player of the Year nominee Dele Alli has attracted the interest of Guardiola

City will make a move for Arsenal's contract rebel Alexis Sanchez, despite the London club's determination not to sell to another Premier League club.

City have shown in the past two summers that they are willing to spend heavily on homegrown talent, shelling out more than £100million on Raheem Sterling, John Stones and Fabian Delph.

But all three were signed from clubs without Champions League football and City believe the level of player they need will be harder to buy this summer.

City are monitoring Burnley defender Michael Keane and Middlesbrough centre half Ben Gibson, but it remains to be seen whether they will pursue their interest.

Guardiola is also keen to sign a goalkeeper, with Sunderland's England Under 21 international Jordan Pickford top of his list.

Claudio Bravo was brought back in last weekend for his first league appearance since January, but gifted Hull a late consolation goal.

The Chilean, signed last summer from Barcelona, had lost his spot to Willy Caballero, and Guardiola suggested he did not have an outstanding candidate to start in Saturday's trip to Southampton.

'Last week I decided for Claudio. Saturday I am going to decide,' Guardiola said. 'It depends if the opponent makes a lot of high pressing or not and what I see in the training session. It's my decision. I like both to be involved. I have confidence in both.'

Spurs defensive duo Kyle Walker and Danny Rose were also rumoured to be on City's radar

Guardiola has deliberated over offering Caballero a fresh contract after his steady performances. There also remains hope inside the club that Bravo can turn his form around, with his influence in last Saturday's 'perfect goal' — when all 11 players touched the ball — promoted through City's media platforms.

England goalkeeper Joe Hart's season-long loan at Torino expires in the summer, but it is expected he will be sold, despite a solid season in Italy.

Questions remain over Vincent Kompany's long-term future at the Etihad, too. Guardiola said on Thursday that the Belgium international is still in his plans by virtue of having a further two years to run on his contract.

Director of football Txiki Begiristain believes the players will be too hard to sign from Spurs

Kompany's only 90 minutes in the Premier League this season came in the defeat at Chelsea earlier this month before he was dropped to the bench against Hull.

The 31-year-old defender is fighting to play a bigger role during the run-in and Guardiola indicated he could return at Southampton.

'Hopefully he can do that (play two games a week) in the next period, in the future,' Guardiola added. 'But after the game against Chelsea he reacted to that, had problems with the leg and we didn't want to take a risk.

'But of course the good news was he could play 90 minutes, a tough game at Stamford Bridge and he played at a high, high level. What we have seen these last two or three days, he's ready for the next game.'