Kane should be aggrieved with City for not making realistic bid
►Spurs striker should ask why champions have not matched his true market value with a realistic bid
For such a well-run club who have generally conducted their transfer business swiftly, ruthlessly and efficiently, Manchester City’s approach to signing Harry Kane has been bizarre. As the unseemly saga drags on, all the attention is on Kane’s conduct to force a move, and the steadfast refusal of Daniel Levy to step aside and let his best player leave.
Yet there are always three leading characters in every transfer story – the player, the seller and the buyer. As we edge closer to the end of this transfer window, questions must be asked of the effectiveness of City’s strategy to this point.
If I was Kane, I would be as disappointed in Sheikh Mansour as Levy, and ask myself: “Why haven’t they matched my market value?”
Privately, he might even be wondering how far City are really prepared to go to get him. As the supposed No1 summer target, he should already have been paraded in his City shirt.
It is difficult to understand how City imagined this would play out any differently than it has over the past two months. From the moment it became clear Kane would push for a transfer, and City were preparing their move, everyone in football foresaw the current state of affairs.
The length of Kane’s contract with Spurs – and the lack of a buy-out clause within it – was always going to be an obstacle, and history tells us that Levy is a notoriously tough negotiator, revelling in his reputation for squeezing every last penny from a deal.
He was never going to countenance Kane’s sale without the bloodiest of fights, so once a valuation was in the public domain, there was no point in City bidding any lower.
Anything less than £150million for the England captain is going to be met with an instant rebuke.
No matter how much understanding there is for Kane as he seeks to fulfil his trophywinning ambitions under Pep Guardiola, no one in football would expect Tottenham to sell him for less. They have a business to protect. There is no room for sentiment. If City were to bid that much and it was still refused, the situation would be viewed differently. Kane’s argument about being retained against his and Spurs’ best interests would carry more weight.
I would certainly shift my opinion and argue Levy was making an emotional rather than financially shrewd decision.
City and Paris St-germain are the only clubs in the world who can consider paying so much for a 28-year-old and give little or no thought to the lack of sell-on value.
As things stand, there is nothing unreasonable about Levy’s stance, as he correctly calculates Kane’s price and the resources of the club chasing him. City obviously had the funds to buy Kane for £150million at the start of the summer, but decided to match the £100million clause for Jack Grealish.
At the moment, it looks like they got their priorities wrong.
When City lost the Champions League final to Chelsea, there was a broad consensus on what they needed to sign before the new season – a striker to replace Sergio Aguero and a recognised, consistent left-back. Nobody watching Guardiola’s side regain the Premier League title and go close to the Champions League was analysing their performances and saying City needed another attacking midfielder.
Grealish is a fine player. He will do well at City. I understand why he wanted to move. What I cannot get my head around is why City did not attend to their more pressing needs first. They already have so many attacking midfielders of Grealish’s profile: Phil Foden, Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne and, if he stays, Bernardo Silva. Signing Grealish will not be the
difference between City retaining their title or finally winning the Champions League this season. Signing Kane, or a world-class striker capable of scoring between 20 and 30 goals this season, might be. That was clear in last weekend’s defeat by Spurs.
Despite that, the Premier League champions pushed ahead with the Grealish deal while waiting for events to materialise on Kane’s future. That will backfire if they do not act to either secure Kane or a worthy alternative.
City must have considered a Plan B in the event of Spurs refusing to sell Kane. There would be more value in trying to sign Kylian Mbappe for in excess of £100million a year before his contract expires at PSG, for example. And were it not for the well-documented antipathy between Guardiola and superagent Mino Raiola, City would probably be pushing harder for Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland. It is inconceivable City will not add at least one striker to their squad. It will not be a good look, nor a reflection of good planning, to see the best team in the world, with the best coach in the world, with a seemingly
They had the funds but went for Grealish. It looks like they got their priorities wrong
unlimited budget, scrambling around hunting for a striker in the final 10 days of the transfer window. While City have sat waiting in vain for Levy to soften his position, the Tottenham chairman has won the PR war. Only by bidding £150million can City change that narrative, and even then Levy will have emerged a financial winner.
If that bid does not materialise, Kane will have been effectively cut adrift by the club he so desperately wants to join, leaving him to repair the considerable damage of the past few months and restore the trust and love of the Spurs fans.
That can be achieved swiftly on the pitch. Kane is a world-class striker and he would rekindle his enthusiasm for goals soon enough. But when he heard those supporters singing: “Are you watching Harry Kane?” on Sunday, it must have hurt him deeply and scrambled his mind. It had to. You do not give so much to a club like Kane has without feeling pain when supporters start to turn against you. That is why those closest to him are working so hard to try to convey his side of the story to the media.
But when asking how it has come to this, and how the situation can be resolved, Kane should not be directing his thoughts solely at the Tottenham chairman.
Each day that passes without City meeting his true valuation should prompt Kane to ask likewise of the Premier League champions.