On Thursday, there was a reported breakthrough in the pursuit of Harry Kane by Manchester City. Reports claimed that the face of both Tottenham Hotspur and the England national team was set to transfer in a deal worth around £160 million, with a salary that would pay him about £400,000-a-week.
That still could happen, but it’s not going to be completed any time soon, we learned today. According to the Sunday back pages, this already long tedious transfer saga could rumble on all the way to deadline day.
That’s according to the Sunday Mirror, who report that “City’s hopes of paying under £100million in cash for the World Cup Golden Boot winner, in the belief that Spurs would accept players moving in the opposite direction in part-exchange, have been dashed.
“But despite Daniel Levy’s hardline stance that his talisman is not for sale at any price, there is still optimism at the Etihad that a deal can be done.”
So it’s difficult to say how this will turn out in the end, but what we do know is this- he’ll either suit up for City or Spurs this upcoming season. Any other club that Kane has been linked to is now essentially out of the running. Harry Kane has never won a trophy at the senior level, and given the kind of offseason that Tottenham have had, it’s hard to fathom that changing in ’20-’21 if he stays at White Hart Lane.
If he moves to City, then he would likely win some silverware, and soon, because the Etihad trophy room just keeps getting more full by the season.
Pep Guardiola and company still maintain some optimism that they can sign Harry Kane, but his chances of leaving have reportedly been hurt by the way he’s gone about trying to force an exit.
That’s according to the Mail on Sunday, who report that Spurs Owner Joe Lewis has now entrenched his defiant position, as he is “unimpressed with the way the England captain’s future has been discussed and is digging in his heels.”
The publication also points out how Lewis has a personal net worth of abut £3.5billion, so if/when Harry Kane leaves the club this summer, I think he’ll be doing alright, generally.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune.
Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.