Madrid are No.1 in Kane chase...but his dream of beating King Shearer’s Prem record could tip it United’s way
LOOK around at the top of world football now, and it seems like it’s a good time to be a proven striker.
Which is why I think it won’t just be Harry Kane in demand this summer, but Mo Salah – though I’m not suggesting for one minute that Liverpool should, or will, sell him.
When you think of the forwards we all talk about and place at the top of the European game, then only Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland are young and still developing.
Otherwise it’s all the usual suspects – Messi, Lewandowski, Benzema, Kane, Salah and, to a lesser extent these days, Neymar and Ronaldo.
Two of those have left two of the richest clubs in the world this past week, and are moving out of European football completely, while you’d put your money on PSG desperately trying to unload Neymar.
So they and Real Madrid are in the market for a proven top-class striker.
And that’s where it gets interesting. Because two more of the biggest clubs in the world – Bayern Munich and Manchester United – are shopping for something very similar. Lewandowski looks like he’ll finish his career at Barcelona, while I can’t see Haaland or Mbappe being available anytime soon.
Which leaves Kane and Salah... and Neymar, if anyone is daft enough to take a punt on a player who looks like he’s had enough of football.
Four of the biggest clubs in the world are chasing one thing – the guarantee of goals. And two strikers in English football have delivered magnificently over the past seven years.
There’s going to be one helluva scrap.
I only mention Salah because for a few months now I’ve thought he could be a wanted man.
It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if both Madrid and PSG come in for him.
In fact, the French club are nailed on in my opinion to try and buy him.
But I don’t think Liverpool fans should be too worried.
Salah has got a long contract and the club has proved in the past few years they won’t be forced into selling, unless its on their own terms.
Saying that, it was a worry to hear him declare how devastated he was that Liverpool didn’t finish in the top four.
Madrid are probably favourites for Kane because he is almost a like-forlike replacement for Karim Benzema.
Same lethal finishing, same linking the build-up play, same coming alive in the penalty area. And when you’ve had a player like Benzema for so long, you don’t want to be taking a gamble on someone who has potential, but is not a guarantee.
I’ve watched Harry Kane closely though, and to me there’s one factor which should give Manchester United fans some hope that they could still get him this summer.
He’s spoken several times about breaking Alan Shearer’s Premier League goalscoring record, and he seems passionate about it.
He won’t do that if he goes to PSG or Madrid – and it won’t be about money for him.
That seems a daft thing to say, because of course it’s about money, but at that level you get it anyway, no matter where you go.
One thing is certain – it will be about winning trophies for Kane.
He’s not won one yet in his entire Spurs career, which is shocking.
I was lucky enough to win a few trophies in my time, but of course I’d have liked more. A lot more.
He will feel the same, so United have to convince him they can deliver that. There won’t be a lack of takers. You look at the top strikers going on towards their late 30s these days, and it’s not a gamble signing a 30-year-old any more – sports science is so advanced now, compared to even my time, that it delivers longevity.
Will it happen? I have no crystal ball, but I do know that there will be a merry-go-round this summer for strikers, with the top clubs trying to outspin their rivals.
And I will say this – those massive clubs look for genuine statement signings.