England captain tells Tottenham he wants to leave the club at the end of the season
By Craig Humpage
Editor-in-Chief, Sporticos
Published on Tuesday 18 May 2021
According to Sky Sports, Harry Kane has told Tottenham he wants to leave at the end of this season. The striker is recognised as one of the best players in world football for his position. He has won two Premier League golden boots, a World Cup golden boot and numerous other individual honours but he now has the desire to win club trophies. Spurs have only offered him two League Cup runners-up medals and a Champions League final defeat. They are now destined for another season in the Europa League. There are reportedly numerous suitors showing interest but will Spurs Chairman Daniel Levy sell the striker?
Harry Kane asks to leave Tottenham Hotspur
Harry Kane wants to leave this summer as his patience has seemingly run out with the club.
He's been extremely loyal to the North London side, sticking with them despite outside interest in every transfer window. It's been suggested that their latest successful plea to keep Harry Kane came when he was told to give it one more chance with a full season under Jose Mourinho. Now that's up in smoke, the England captain rightly feels he has shown his loyalty as strongly as possible. He'll turn 28 in July and some have argued that he's already given up many good years to stay at Spurs and win nothing. Very few Spurs fans would begrudge their talisman the opportunity to go and put some trophies in the cabinet while he still can, but do the club feel the same?
He is under contract for another three years which really puts him in a tough spot right now. In effect, Daniel Levy doesn't have to agree to his demands at all. Then there's the added element that Kane seems to be a real pro and someone who won't make things difficult. He doesn't seem to be that character to push through a deal this summer by hook or by crook, which again plays into Levy's hands.
If Spurs do decide to allow Harry Kane to leave, Sky Sports report that they will want their full asking price which is reportedly around £150million. As clubs all over the world are reeling from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the list of names able to come up with such a figure is small. It is understood that Kane's preference would be to stay in England, probably in order to continue hunting down Alan Shearer's goalscoring record. The 27 year old is 95 short and with his goalscoring exploits he could break that before turning 33. However, Spurs will probably try to avoid selling him to an English rival and will look abroad. They have a good relationship with Real Madrid, to whom they sold Luka Modric and Gareth Bale.
165 - Harry Kane has scored 165 goals in 243 Premier League appearances but has never won the competition; he is the top scoring player never to have won the title. Reasons. pic.twitter.com/RGrCIXwcH1
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 18, 2021
Kane has made it clear he doesn't want a long drawn out transfer saga this summer and wants his future resolved before the Euros, but can he leave and if so where can he go?
Manchester City
Pep Guardiola's side need a striker, or perhaps need is a strong word based on what we've seen this season. With the rotating false nines employed by the Catalan they've romped to a Premier League and League Cup double and can make it a treble when City and Chelsea meet in the Champions League final later this month. Nonetheless, speculation has been rife about them bringing in a recognised striker to replace the departing Sergio Aguero. 21 year old Ferran Torres was brought in to be another one of the fantastic interchangeable attackers they have, but he showed a goalscorer's instinct with his hat-trick against Newcastle at the weekend and we know Pep loves to adapt players to different positions so perhaps he could be their man.
If Manchester City do decide to buy someone, Harry Kane's style might be a good fit for their football. Not only does he guarantee bags of goals, but also assists. His hold up play, and the way he can drop off into midfield and get involved in the build up would surely please Pep, but there are reasons to doubt this move. For all the flack Man City get for spending money, they are never the one to spend huge on a single player. The £68m the Premier League Champions spent on Kevin De Bruyne is still a club record and a fee for Kane would likely be double that.
Harry Kane has told Tottenham he wants to leave, with Man Utd, Man City and Chelsea all interested in him, according to Sky Sports News š pic.twitter.com/iozYjvfWYt
— Goal (@goal) May 17, 2021
Manchester United
Harry Kane ticks a lot more boxes for Manchester United and many see this as his ideal destination. United have a rich history of proper centre forwards like Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Robin Van Persie, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and now Edinson Cavani. He would fit in perfectly. The Red Devils are also much more of a galactico club than City, spending £94m on Paul Pogba and £78m on Harry Maguire. There's nothing to indicate Man United wouldn't do the same to get Kane in. There are however a couple of doubts. The first one concerns Kane's desire to win trophies. He would surely have a much better chance of doing this at Manchester United than Spurs, but still it isn't a dead cert. To be at the very top table, almost guaranteed to win the league several times and compete for the Champions League, he'd be better off going to City. Then there's the matter of Cavani. He just signed a new deal which will keep him at Old Trafford for at least another year. Could Ole Gunnar Solksjaer find a way to make it work with two elite centre forwards in his squad?
Chelsea
Chelsea have an outside chance. They are a club with enviable financial resources and could clinch the UEFA Champions League themselves before the end of the season. They will likely be competing for the Premier League title next season under Thomas Tuchel. The German coach has turned them into a defensive machine and with the pace and guile of their attacking players, you'd think he would have a lot of joy there. It would be great for Timo Werner too as the arrival of Kane would take the onus off of him a little. The big sticking point here is that Daniel Levy is unlikely to sell to a rival London team and Kane's loyalty would probably keep him from moving to one.
A move away from the Premier League
Harry Kane has told Tottenham Hotspur he wishes to leave this summer, according to Sky Sports - Mauricio Pochettino has spoken with the Englishman on the phone, as reported by TF1 some weeks ago, but nothing concrete with PSG at the moment.
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) May 17, 2021
If Spurs are willing to sell Harry Kane, it's most likely they will want to send him abroad and not to any other English clubs. This may not be the player's desire but it could happen. A reunion with former boss Mauricio Pochettino at PSG makes sense because they have endless cash and a front three of him, Mbappe and Neymar could get them over the line in the Champions League. However, the French domestic league might not be challenging enough for him. Real Madrid claim to have money woes but they can always find money from somewhere. Barcelona really do have big financial difficulties right now and will be hoping to sell rather than buy. If the rumours about Lewandowski perhaps moving to Chelsea are true, Bayern may be a very outside shot.
