Spurs Should Not Offer Harry Kane a New Deal

The idea of Harry Kane signing a new deal at Tottenham right now is, quite frankly, laughable. In what has been a nightmare season for Spurs, Harry Kane has been the one bright spark – breaking the club’s goalscoring record and regularly finding the back of the net despite such a negative team style and structure.

Of course, Spurs fans don’t want to see him go. But there’s no certainty that a new manager will be in place before the transfer window opens. And even if the new man is through the door by then, Tottenham rarely gets their business done early.

Then there’s the issue of Champions League football – and yet another of those ‘transitional periods’ that Tottenham seems to have been on since the early 60s. Kane has one more major contract in him, and it seems his trajectory and the club are now going in opposite directions. The new manager (hopefully) will be starting a project. Kane needs to be competing for trophies immediately.

But that doesn’t mean Daniel Levy should let him go. Whatever happens over the summer, a Spurs team starting the new season with Harry Kane will be better than one without him. So, rather than diving into pointless discussions over a new contract, Spurs should tell Kane that, after next season, he can leave on a free transfer with the club’s blessing.

If he accepts the offer, the club gets one more season with arguably their best-ever player, and Kane gets a bumper contract with one of Europe’s elite clubs while he still has some good years ahead of him. And if we assume for a moment that the club gets its choice of new manager right, there’s a chance of a strong season in the Premier League and, maybe, a top-four finish and a trophy.

If he chooses to move on at the end of the season, he could leave amid positive scenes at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. This positivity will be far more valuable than any transfer fee they’ll get for him this summer. It’s all well and good Daniel Levy getting top dollar for him from Manchester United, Bayern Munich, or any other suitor. But right now, the chances of top players wanting to jump aboard the sinking ship that is Tottenham are slim to none.

And you never know. If Spurs end up as unlikely title challengers next season, he might decide to stay put.