Tottenham Hotspur were rocked this week by Harry Kane’s refusal to show up for pre-season training after his scheduled holiday period came to an end, but whilst shocked by the actions of their captain, the reality is that the club do want to sell their leading goalscorer.
This may sound ridiculous and complete at odds with all the noises coming out of the north London club this summer, but there is an uncomfortable reality that every player has a price, and Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is merely focused on getting the fee he desires.
Surely, if Kane felt like a move was totally impossible and Levy wouldn’t budge, that would have been made clear to him at the beginning of the summer and he wouldn’t now try and force his way out of the club.
What seems far more likely is Levy has told Kane the fee he will accept for the forward, and the England international is now trying to put pressure on the club’s chairman to accept a lower offer from Manchester City, who are on the verge of breaking the British transfer record to sign Aston Villa star Jack Grealish.
Tottenham are still paying for the move to their new stadium, and it increased in cost due to various delays.
If you think that this isn’t influencing footballing policy at the club, you’re kidding yourself. Why would Levy gamble on reaching the Champions League money pit when he has a sellable asset worth 160 million pounds, who has already failed to lead the team to a trophy in his career thus far.
It’s an interesting dichotomy with people suggesting Levy is an individual only focused on making profit and improving the bottom line at Spurs, but the same people believe he genuinely doesn’t want to sell Kane.
Why would a money-focused chairman run the risk of missing the top four again and not cashing in on a major asset this summer? At every other juncture in his time at Spurs, Levy has sold. It’s always just a case of receiving fair value.
From Michael Carrick to Dimitar Berbatov and then Gareth Bale, Levy always gets the fee he wants. The Kane situation is no different. Name one time when Spurs haven’t sold.
Levy has danced this dance before. Everyone knew Bale wanted to sign for Real Madrid, and he waited until the last possible moment to ensure he received a transfer fee that broke the world record at the time.
That is exactly the situation we’re in at this precise moment with Kane, and it is simply a matter of time before he lines up in Pep Guardiola‘s team at the Etihad Stadium.