Tottenham Stifle Laughs After Latest Harry Kane Rumor

Ever since Harry Kane first blossomed at Tottenham, the striker’s found himself the subject of rumors linking him to other clubs. The latest is by far the most outlandish yet though.

The Mirror reported Friday that AC Milan were lining up a hefty bid for Tottenham’s Kane. Napoli could also be in line to do the same — a possibility that appears slightly more likely given that the club is swimming the cash earned from selling Gonzalo Higuaín.

It’s a scenario that is by this point familiar to Tottenham, at least in spirit if not details. Last summer the club and its fans were overwrought with worry that Manchester United would swoop in for the young striker. Whispers of a £50 million fee inspired worry that Daniel Levy could find himself too tempted to pass.

In hindsight, such a move was never likely to happen. Levy, with Mauricio Pochettino’s help, was overseeing a overhaul of how the club does business. No longer were Tottenham a selling club. The days when stars like Luka Modrić and Gareth Bale were sold to the highest bidder were, presumably, gone.

Now that Tottenham are back in the Champions League and competing for honors in England as well, there is less incentive than ever to consider offers for such crucial players as Kane — even if such offers approach rumored heights of £75 million and above.

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And yet this pair of Serie A heavy hitters thinks they can defy expectations and convince the club to part with the player and vice versa.

Nevermind for a moment that English players in their prime rarely play abroad these days. Kane himself is also playing at his boyhood club, competing in two of the finest competitions in the world and in line for a pay raise sometime soon. Tottenham’s likely never seemed more comfortable to him,.

What, if anything, can Milan and Napoli offer that might compete?

Milan is a club undergoing heavy rebuilding following a fall from glory several seasons back and a recent change in ownership. They haven’t qualified for any European club tournament since 2013, finding themselves just outside the top tier of teams for three seasons running.

Though their team is stocked with a respectable amount of talent, no one has yet figured out how to get the best out of them as a unit. Kane would have little motivation to enter into the middle of Milan’s current chaos.

Of the two, Napoli is probably the more tempting. Current coach Maurizio Sarri arrived last summer and went about dramatically overhauling the club. Though they were propelled into second place largely due to Higuaín, there are signs that Sarri’s revolution will continue apace. Club legend Diego Maradona has cited Kane as a worthy replacement in the recent past, and evidently the powers that be at Napoli took that advice to heart.

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Serie A still lacks the luster of the Premier League however. It’s doubtful anyone short of Juventus will be attracting any player from England, especially one as embedded as Kane.

All of which was the long way of saying that these newest Kane rumors are absurd. Perhaps the two clubs in question are genuinely that ambitious and flush with money. One suspects that no amount of ambition or cash will pry Tottenham’s own Harry Kane away from his home however.