Tottenham Reject United’s Kane Interest
By Ryan Wrenn
The gaping maw that is Manchester United’s striker depth chart and the news yesterday that Tottenham were in the running for precisely three new forwards have combined to create perhaps the last great transfer saga of the summer.
In truth, the whispers that United were interested in Kane are not new. They’ve been skirting around the periphery of Tottenham’s offseason since before the transfer window even opened. Who isn’t interested in the boy by this point though? He scored 31 goals in all competitions last year, he’s only 22 years old and he’s English. By all rights he should have been the subject of £50 million bids as soon as the season ended.
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That he thus far hasn’t is a testament to the freshly iron will of chairman Daniel Levy. Perhaps this is the beginning of a new age for Tottenham Hotspur, one where the potential profits from the sale of the club’s best players are valued less than stability and honor.
Or perhaps the rumored transfer fee just hasn’t gotten high enough yet.
We kid. It’s easy to be cynical about the Levy and club’s transfer policy, but there’s a lot of very good reasons why Harry Kane is not destined for a move to Old Trafford this summer.
For one, there are plenty of strikers out there with a more established record of greatness than Harry Kane. That is not throwing shade on the kid, just an honest assessment. He’s had one full Premier League season. Even if it was an immensely impressive one, the fee Levy would demand based on that one season would match or exceed that which could secure United the services of a player like Karim Benzema or Edinson Cavani. Both of those players have consistent goal-scoring records and have equaled or bested Kane’s goals last season at least twice each in their careers.
To those that would claim that Kane’s homegrown status makes him more valuable: you’re right, if this were Manchester City we were talking about. United’s roster exceeds the required amount of homegrown players and thus Kane’s Englishness isn’t nearly as vital as Raheem Sterling’s was to City.
Finally, and most importantly, we have good reason to believe that Levy and company have legitimately learned to value a steady hand. With the new stadium project approved and plans already in place to move there by the 2018/19 season, Levy has every incentive to want that transition to be a smooth and seamless one. That means valuing the long game more than immediate results – or immediate profit. That means developing players. That means not summarily sacking a manager after another 5th place finish. That means embracing a playing philosophy even if it takes time to be instilled in the players. That means retaining your most valuable assets, of which Kane is inarguably a part.
The project that Levy has permitted Mauricio Pochettino to grow is the direct result of this renewed patience. We see that in the hiring of new Head of Recruitment Paul Mitchell, formerly of Southampton’s vaunted development and scouting system. We see that in the concerted, if unflashy, effort to solidify the defense first this summer before bringing in any more attacking talent. And we’ll see that again when Harry Kane is still in lilywhites come September.