Report, City willing to pay Tottenham Hotspur £130 million for Kane

A new report from Charlie Eccleshare and The Athletic is claiming that Manchester City is confident they can get Kane from Tottenham for £130 million. 

We all know Harry Kane has missed the last two days of training with Tottenham Hotspur, which were reported to be his first two days back from holiday. However, one of the most confusing parts of the situation, is that there is nothing real for Kane to be holding out for as of this time. The £100 million bid before Euros was all that Spurs have received and it was clear then and it should be now that the Lilywhites expected more. A new report from the Athletic claims that a bid for more might finally be forthcoming.

The transfer market is different now, right?

We know that £100 million is not enough, so the question is one ultimately of price and what is the right price. According to most reports, the asking price of Kane has been set at £150 million, preferably in cash, all up-front. Two years ago, pre-pandemic that would have not been a problem but in the current climate, things have changed.

Well, things have changed for most clubs but not all, and Manchester City is one of those exceptions.

Manchester City are playing a different transfer game

Manchester City was spending big before the pandemic and will continue to do so. Over the last five seasons alone, they have spent £736.54 million (just over 1 billion US), before any incoming sales.

Even when factoring in roughly £250 million that has come back to the club from player sales during that time, City has invested nearly half a billion-pound sterling in just the transfer market.  Remember on top of all that money are the wages to the players represented by the enormous transfer expenditures, which are considerable.

Their highest spend in the last five years was in 2017/18 when they dropped $349.25 (£250 million) in the market. The point to all this is that anyone who thinks City cannot afford both Kane and Jack Grealish is fooling themselves. Particularly with over £40 million in outgoing player sales.

This brings us to the rumored offer, which will be for £130 million, and what Tottenham does at that point. We know if Kane has said he wants to leave and the right bid comes in, it will happen, that is the history of Tottenham under ENIC leadership. However, the question is if £130 million is enough.

£130 million and Aymeric Laporte, would do it but getting the Spaniard to agree to join Spurs seems unlikely at this time. So I imagine when and if the £130 million bid comes, Paratici, Levy, and the team will pass on the offer. Whether or not Kane holds out as we have seen with Atalanta and Cristian Romero, teams can stand firm and have their desires met when they hold the cards as Spurs do now.

Bottom line, anyone hoping for a quick resolution is likely to be disappointed because this situation is not likely to be resolved anytime soon, with Spurs asking price not being met. On August 31 does Tottenham Hotspur take £130 million for Harry Kane, maybe, on August 3, not a chance.