Could United pull off Kane transfer coup?
SIGNING WOULD BE A STATEMENT OF INTENT... AND IT’D WIND JOSE UP TOO!
YOU couldn’t wipe the smile off Jose Mourinho’s face. Tottenham had just eviscerated United at Old Trafford and Mourinho’s pat on the head of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had more than a whiff of an alpha move. Master 6 Apprentice 1.
Back on Sunday, October 4, 2020, United’s season looked to be in disarray already and in a campaign that promised to be unpredictable, there was a school of thought it would favour the methods of Mourinho. This could be Tottenham’s year.
For the second Premier League away game in a row Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min had run riot for Spurs, who won their first five games of the season in all competitions.
Even on December 12 Tottenham were still top of the Premier League, while United were eighth. Fast forward four months and the situation has almost entirely reserved. The afternoon of October 4 feels like it belongs to a different season now.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer always expected United to improve with time this season, having been denied a proper pre-season, and that has been the case. They might have got a bad case of vertigo when they hit top spot in January, but they remain on course to finish second and are in the quarterfinals of the Europa League and the FA Cup. That’s progress and a trophy will be the icing on the cake.
For Spurs the picture is a lot murkier after a classic ‘Spursy’ display on Thursday night. While United navigated a tricky task in the San Siro, Tottenham collapsed in Zagreb and the inquest was swift and unceremonious. Mourinho made it clear his plans hadn’t been followed.
Spurs could yet win a trophy before United, of course. The League Cup will add to Mourinho’s ego.
But right now Tottenham sit 26 points behind City, six points off the top four and out of the Europa League. What has this got to do with United, beyond a healthy dollop of schadenfreude? Well, it might just present them with the chance to pull off a transfer coup that would truly announce their return as a global power. Solskjaer needs a striker soon and while Erling Haaland is probably the dream target, half of Europe wants the gifted Norwegian to lead their line.
Harry Kane has his admirers at Old Trafford as well. As one of the Premier League’s greatest ever strikers, Kane has his admirers everywhere.
He turns 28 in July and the clock on a footballer’s career ticks loudly as age advances.
At the moment Tottenham don’t look like candidates to win the biggest trophies. At least Alan Shearer had the comfort of a title with Blackburn when he decided the romance of a move to serial underachievers Newcastle was a better option than serial winners United.
The danger for Kane if he remains loyal to Tottenham is that the best years of his career will pass him by without a medal to hang around his neck.
It might be time for Kane to be ruthless and accept he stands a better chance of winning honours by deserting North London.
Signing Kane would be a major statement of intent from United, but it might need Kane to push for a move as well. There are plenty of hurdles to jump, but in the week of the Cheltenham Festival perhaps they aren’t insurmountable.
It feels like it’s approaching decision time for Kane.