The Harry Kane saga rumbles on with seemingly no hope of being resolved before the season starts.
Kane has not reported for training this week. It has been suggested that this has been a decision made in order to force the club to sell the England captain to Manchester City. Yet fresh reports seem intended to downplay Kane’s lack of involvement, with news having broken that Kane was not due to train until towards the end of the week, with the striker having only just returned from a holiday in the Bahamas and now serving a period of quarantine, pending a negative Covid test.
Manchester City are said to have made a bid for Kane back in late June of £100m, but are yet to increase their offer. With Tottenham’s season set to start in twelve days time, against Manchester City, it was always unlikely that any deal would have been done in time for Kane to line up for the opposition.
It’s been claimed that Spurs are reluctant to sell Kane to a domestic rival at all, with only a bid from a foreign club of £150m, likely to be considered. The current situation with Kane could see that stance softened to include Manchester City, especially if Kane were to formally request a transfer, but with three years remaining on his contract, the onus remains on the Premier League champions to make an acceptable bid.
An interesting subplot to Kane’s possible transfer is what it means for Daniel Levy and ENIC. The stock of the club’s owners is at an all-time low with fans, after a disastrous two years which has seen the team go from being Champions League finalists under Mauricio Pochettino in 2019, to finishing seventh last season.
A theory has been floated that Kane’s actions this week, which have largely incensed Spurs supporters, now makes it easier for Levy to sell Kane. In the short term this may be true, but if Kane does leave, it surely won’t be long until the attention and anger turns to Levy.
Pochettino had transformed Spurs into Champions League regulars and Kane was happy to sign a six-year contract as recently as the summer of 2018, but the failure of the club to sign a single player in the 2018-19 season, derailed the project. The Argentine was sacked just months after guiding the club to the Champions League final, before being disastrously replaced by Jose Mourinho, who was sacked himself last season.
The sale of Tottenham Hotspur tickets was slow this summer, as many disgruntled season ticket holders decided against renewing. It will not take much for the atmosphere to turn toxic amongst the fanbase this season. Kane leaving would certainly add to the anger. Would Levy dare let his star player leave right now?
