As the Premier League season enters into its latter stages, Harry Kane’s future is once again a cause of rumour and speculation. The Athletic’s Jack Pitt-Brooke and Oliver Holt report that Kane will push to leave Tottenham Hotspur this summer but much will depend on Europe’s elite teams and their own transfer plans.
Numerous Factors Could Decide Harry Kane’s Future
Lack of Trophies Could See Harry Kane’s Future Elsewhere
Kane is already a Spurs legend and there are records still to be broken, but his opportunity to add silverware to his career is dwindling with each passing season. To date, he has not one winners medal to his name although on 25 April he can change that by helping Spurs to League Cup success against Manchester City. It appears that decision time has arrived, however.
Another 51 goals will see Kane beat Jimmy Greaves’ goalscoring record for Spurs, a record that has stood untouched for over half a century and, in order to surpass that, he would likely need to remain at the club for another two seasons- taking him to his 30th birthday. The question for Kane is whether he wants to break records or win trophies.
Trophies Do Not Equate to Greatness
Whilst winning trophies is something every player wants, there is a myth that needs to be dispelled that winning a trophy is somehow the only benchmark of player greatness. While the success of a club must be defined by silverware, it is naive to suggest a player can only be judged by the same statistic. Should Kane break that Greaves record then his reputation at Spurs would be there forevermore and his greatness cemented without any doubt.
Tottenham’s chairman could be the biggest single obstacle to any departure for Kane. The notoriously hardball negotiator has no intention of selling his star asset and will ensure that any interest is staved off by placing a huge price tag on his head of around £100 million or more- meaning even the likes of Manchester City and Real Madrid may look for players costing less, especially after the financial impact coronavirus has had on clubs around the World.
Paris Saint-Germain could be another option with Kane having a close relationship with his former boss Mauricio Pochettino whom he visited following his sacking by Levy. Pep Guardiola will need to fill the void about to be left by Sergio Aguero and would welcome the acquisition of Kane but Levy selling directly to a rival is unlikely.
No Longer First Choice
Before the global pandemic, Kane was the hottest property in world football but he is now no longer in that position with Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland the player on the top of Europe’s most-wanted list. Manchester United, City and Barcelona have all shown interest in the player as well as in young English starlet Jadon Sancho. Whilst Kane is performing right at the top of his game, the fact remains that he is heading towards his 3o’s and younger options may be seen as of longer-term value.
Has Kane’s chance already passed him by?
Harry Kane’s Future Could Depend on Champions League Qualification
A player of Kane’s calibre needs to be playing in the Champions League every season. Yet, he is currently facing the possibility of a second successive season outside of Europe’s major competition and was part of a squad humiliated in this seasons’ Europa League by Dinamo Zagreb, a competition that Spurs should have been looking to win.
Tottenham are still in the hunt for the top four but recent performances such as the 2-2 draw at Newcastle United suggest the club are more likely to be fighting for Europe’s secondary competition once more and missing out on Europe entirely is still a real possibility.
‘I Just Want to Win’: Four Years On
Four years ago, former Arsenal legend Thierry Henry met with Kane at Spurs’ world-class training facility with Kane making it clear that seeing no silverware in the cabinet three years down the line would be ‘disappointing.’ He told Henry for Sky Sports: “I just want to win, I want to win trophies. I don’t think there is a day that goes past when I don’t think I want to win something. I want to win the Premier League, I want to win the Champions League, I want to win the FA Cup. In three years’ time if I haven’t won a few trophies by then I think it would be disappointing. In three years’ time when you walk in the training ground, there’s got to be a wall saying Premier League winners or FA Cup winners or European Cup winners.”
That disappointment must now be huge as Tottenham have failed to meet the players’ ambitions despite his own efforts and exploits on the pitch and even the League Cup might not be enough to persuade the talisman to commit the rest of his career to the club.
The Toughest of Decisions
Harry Kane’s future has so many aspects surrounding it such as whether he wants to break Premier League records, Tottenham records or win silverware and seek to do so away from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Loyalty, personal drive, long term future, personal aspirations are all going to be considerations for Kane to make but, ultimately, a lot is going to rest on whether Europe’s elite teams will actually take the chance, pay the money and offer him a route out of Tottenham.
That can only happen should Kane make his desire to leave the club official and that desire seems like it is getting ever closer to being a reality.
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