After news broke out on the weekend that Harry Kane had requested to leave Tottenham Hotspur, the club and fans, albeit aware of the striker’s ambitions, were left in turmoil and agony. While some reports suggested that the Spurs hierarchy were displeased with the timing of Kane’s request, others focused on where the English striker could go should he leave Spurs this summer.
Soon enough, London rivals Chelsea and the two Manchester clubs were in contact with Charlie Kane, Harry Kane’s brother and agent, to discuss a potential move to their clubs this summer.
While several assumptions were made regarding what would be the best choice for Kane, Tuesday night saw Metro Sport reporting that Daniel Levy will not let the striker leave the club to go to another Premier League club, let alone rivals in Chelsea.
DANIEL LEVY WILL NOT BUDGE:
This is not the first time one of Tottenham’s star players have asked to leave the club and neither is it the first time that Daniel Levy has made his stance clear regarding the transfer of a star player. In 2011, Levy blocked Luka Modric’s transfer to Chelsea even though the Blues were willing to pay the Croatian’s transfer fee and wages. Modric eventually moved to Real Madrid in the following year.
Similarly, Gareth Bale, in 2013, was not offered the option of a Premier League club either, even though Manchester United were keen on signing the Welshman. Like Modric, Bale too joined Real Madrid, and Daniel Levy made it clear as to who is calling the shots at the club.
However, Harry Kane is already a legend at the club, not to mention, also the club’s all-time top goal-scorer in the Premier League. So understandably, Kane also has some leverage while he was also guaranteed last summer that he would be allowed to leave this season should things not work out with former manager Jose Mourinho, who was Kane’s last hope of gaining some kind of silverware with Tottenham Hotspur.
Kane wants to win the best trophies while he also wants to become the Premier League’s all-time top goal scorer. These numbers cannot be achieved from a club outside the Premier League. Although Daniel Levy understands this dilemma, he is not going to be sympathetic to Harry Kane’s needs, especially after the forward’s request to wrap up his transfer to a new club before the start of the Euros.
While both the Manchester clubs have agreed to pay Kane’s £300,000 a week wages, they have also come up with cash plus player deals for the forward, with United and City ready to offload the likes of Anthony Martial and Gabriel Jesus, respectively.
Daniel Levy will demand at least more than £120 million for Kane, and barring PSG, nobody outside the Premier League currently has the finances to secure Kane’s services. This could lead to Kane going to war with the club, including Chairman Daniel Levy.
While Levy’s stance makes complete sense, there needs to be a better way to deal with a player who has given so much to the club. Tottenham does not even want to bother thinking about the state of their club once Kane leaves, and thus, in their eyes, the best thing to do right now is to delay talks between Kane and some of the other Premier League clubs rather than taking any rash action against their star-studded forward.
Club legend or not, Daniel Levy will not budge and will certainly not hand over Kane to a direct Premier League rival, regardless of the size of the offer.
SO WHERE TO FOR HARRY KANE?
While a move to Real Madrid would be acceptable to Harry Kane, the Spanish outfit does not have the money currently to lure the Englishman while they also have their eyes set on Kylian Mbappe.
The only other club with the financial clout to provide that kind of money is Paris Saint Germain which, although, not the most attractive proposition, will guarantee regular Champions League football. Alongside Neymar and Mbappe, Kane could take his game to superhuman levels while working with ex-Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino again will be something Kane will look forward to.
Ironically, Pochettino also had to sign a deal with Tottenham saying that he will not manage another Premier League club after he was sacked in November 2019. While Pochettino’s agreement was only for 18 months, Harry Kane will not agree to any such deal, and the Englishman, if given a choice, will prefer to move to an English club, where his friends and family are well settled.
Nevertheless, this is going to become the biggest talking point in the summer, while this could also be a never-ending saga. Tottenham fans will never forgive Daniel Levy if he lets Harry Kane leave, while Levy will never forgive himself if he lets Harry Kane move to another Premier League club. The tensions are running high at Spurs and if Harry Kane has set his eyes to a move in the Premier League itself, it is going to take a whole lot of money and several negotiations between all parties concerned.
