Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has reportedly been forced to set a tough new asking price on Harry Kane amid mounting claims the striker could leave and amid growing interest from several of the world’s top clubs.
The England captain now has just 18 months left on his deal at Spurs and talks over an extension are yet to seen an agreement reached. Having failed to ever win a trophy in his career – Audi Cup jokes aside (!) – the 29-year-old knows time is running against him.
Understandably, he wants to see what direction the club is heading in before committing to a new deal.
His future is very much intrinsically linked to that of manager Antonio Conte. The Italian has had Spurs upwardly mobile since taking charge, returning Champions League football to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. And while their ongoing participation in the competition will help, it is silverware that Kane truly craves.
On the subject of Conte, Sky Sports man Dharmesh Sheth dropped some massive news on the Italian earlier this week.
Should Conte stay, then that would clearly help Spurs in their quest to nail down Kane too.
However, with 18 months left on his deal, fears are mounting the striker may be lured away.
Indeed, the likes of Bayern Munich are reportedly strongly on his trail, having tracked him for some months.
But in recent weeks, interest appears to have grown. Now the likes of Manchester United are being strongly linked again, with Paul Merson recently advising them to break the bank to sign Kane. And he thinks his signing can turn Erik ten Hag’s side into serious Champions League contenders.
Ben Jacobs on growing interest in Harry Kane
Real Madrid are also reportedly watching developments with the 80-times capped England striker too. Los Blancos’ main man in attack, Karim Benzema is now 35 and talk is growing they will look to replace him at the end of the season.
Chelsea also continue to hover behind the scenes. Their new co-owner Todd Boehly seems to be playing some real-life version of Fantasy Football, with his trigger-happy spending certainly irking Gary Neville for one. And there are growing claims a move for Kane could be next on their agenda.
As a result of the mounting interest, respected CBS journalist Ben Jacobs has revealed all he knows on the striker’s future. And despite the interest in Kane from the likes of Bayern and Real, he claims the striker has no interest in playing abroad.
Furthermore, he claims the asking price for Kane, despite the player turning 30 in the summer, remains ‘well in excess of £100m’.
‘We know there’s been a historical interest from Bayern Munich, but I’ve been told pretty consistently that Kane isn’t sold on going to Germany,’ Jacobs wrote for Caught Offside.
‘People tend to put two and two together because Bayern, more often than not, will finish the season with something in their trophy cabinet, and of course, he’d have Champions League football.
However, there are two issues here. The transfer fee is difficult for Bayern, and Kane himself doesn’t necessarily want to leave the Premier League.
‘Real Madrid have been linked with Kane as well, but again they’re not going to pay the kind of transfer fee that’s been quoted for Kane.
‘It’s no longer £200m but it’s still in excess of £100m. And for someone approaching their 30s, I don’t think Real Madrid see any value in that.’
Kane knows who he wants to play for
With regards interest from Premier League rivals, Jacobs is adamant that Kane’s first-choice is actually to stay with Tottenham.
‘I think at the moment he does want to re-sign with Spurs. But if that changes, I think Manchester United and Chelsea could come into the conversation,’ Jacobs added.
‘The Chelsea ownership are huge admirers of Harry Kane, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be bought or sold.
He added: ‘There’s no evidence out there that Daniel Levy would like to, if it’s his only option, to sell Kane to a Premier League rival. The Man City transfer saga shows that to a certain extent.
‘The final thing to say on Kane is that the contract’s ticking down. As a result, Spurs have a bit less leverage than they did during that Man City saga.’
Crucially, Jacobs added: ‘Still, I don’t think there’s any panic, they’re calm about this. They’ve had reassurances that Kane’s happy and wants to stay at the club.’
Kane has scored 265 goals in 412 appearances for Tottenham. And he now sits just one goal behind their all-time top scorer Jimmy Greaves. Next up is Arsenal in a huge north London derby. What a time that would be for Kane to break the Tottenham record.
