➤ Manchester City’s £125m bid not enough to trigger sale
➤ Forward ‘disappointed over lack of support from his club’
Daniel Levy is digging his heels in over the future of Harry Kane with the Tottenham Hotspur chairman and England captain disagreeing over the nature of the deal they struck that would have seen the striker sold this summer.
The Daily Telegraph reported yesterday that Kane was adamant that Levy had promised him that a sale would be sanctioned this summer if the team failed to finish in the Premier League top four or did not win a trophy – both of which transpired – and that the agreement had now been deliberately ignored.
Levy, however, is understood to believe the “gentlemen’s agreement” was that Kane would only be sold to a foreign club, unless an “amazing” offer was made by a Premier League rival. Kane believes this proposal was put forward in subsequent meetings far more recently and, crucially, that he never agreed to it, insisting they stuck to the original plan.
There has been no significant interest from outside England this summer, but the Kane camp believe a British record £125million bid – which they would consider an “amazing” offer – has been made by Manchester City and that, having previously been in dialogue, Levy is now refusing to negotiate.
Levy maintains that no formal offer of that magnitude has been received and, even then, does not consider the figure to be high enough to be acceptable from a topflight rival.
The two sides are clearly at loggerheads as the clock ticks towards the closure of the transfer window on Aug 31 and City are hoping to make one “final push”, according to sources, to try to force Levy finally to negotiate the sale of the club’s prize asset.
Sources close to Kane are disappointed at how he has been portrayed in recent weeks and at the lack of support he has received from the club’s hierarchy as relations have soured.
Kane had hoped, given his professionalism and service to Spurs and the fee that is being offered for him, that he could leave on good terms, especially given how important his relationship with the club’s fans has been to him over the years.
It has also been suggested that Kane will have to wait another year for his move, a position he feels would be unacceptable. There is no guarantee that City will wait that long, especially in a much-changed striker market in which Kylian Mbappe could potentially be a free agent and Borussia Dortmund are
likely be in a position to sell Erling Haaland.
As expected, Kane did not travel to Portugal for the Europa Conference League play-off first-leg against Pacos de Ferreira despite being in the original 25-man squad.
Kane later posted a photograph of himself on social media training alone with the caption: “Another session in the bank” as he works back towards fitness, having joined up late with the squad after an extended holiday, which sources say was offered to him by Levy but later became a point of dispute.
Spurs head coach Nuno Espirito Santo said that none of the players who started Sunday’s impressive Premier League win against City – with Kane not in the squad and choosing not to attend the game – would start against Pacos. In the absence of Kane, there will be a start for the highlyrated 17-year-old striker Dane Scarlett.
Nuno said that he had breakfasted with Kane before the squad flew to Portugal and that although he “didn’t care what was said or written outside” about the 28-year-old’s future he would assess his state of mind as well as his fitness before selecting him for Sunday’s Premier League match away to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
“What we must be sure of is when we put a player on the pitch we have to consider all the aspects – fitness, the mental aspects,” Nuno said.
“And we are here to support all the players equally. Harry, of course, has all our support.”
For Nuno, it has proven to be a tricky start to his time in charge of Spurs. Although undoubtedly lifted by the unexpected win over City, he was sanguine and accepted that any player could be sold given that the transfer window is still open.
“I don’t know many managers in the Premier League who know exactly what’s going to happen,” he said. “The transfer window is open. We are all living the same situation all around the clubs.”
Meanwhile, Ben Davies said he hoped Kane would remain at Spurs. “He’s probably one of the world’s best strikers and we definitely want him as part of our team,” Davies said, before adding that Kane had not discussed his future with the rest of the players.
“It’s probably a blessing when he gets to chat to us, not about the whole business side of it and not about his future.”