August 25, (THEWILL) -The protracted transfer debacle surrounding England’s football captain Harry Kane appears to be over with the 28-year-old striker for Tottenham Hotspur confirming that he was going nowhere else this season.
It brings to an unexpected end a transfer drama that had dominated the summer window from the moment the forward publicly acknowledged a desire to move on from his years at the north London club at the conclusion of the 2020/2021 campaign.
All summer long, Kane was a transfer target for English Premier League champions Manchester City, who saw him as a natural successor for the record-setting Sergio Aguero after the Argentine left on a free transfer to La Liga side Barcelona at the end of last season.
Even if Kane had gone public with a gentleman’s agreement he had with Spurs’ chairman Daniel Levy that assured Kane he will be allowed to leave if Spurs failed to win silverware, Levy refused to accept bids from City for their prized forward.
With the deadline for transfers fast approaching, Kane made up his mind and tweeted his decision in a post that said: “It was incredible to see the reception from the Spurs fans on Sunday and to read some of the messages of support I’ve had in the last few weeks.
“I will be staying at Tottenham this summer and will be 100% focused on helping the team achieve success.”
The dramatic turn may have been the conclusion arrived at after City refused to meet Tottenham’s asking price for the striker. Levy had placed a price tag of over £150m on Kane, if he was going to budge and accept any negotiations for a transfer from any club.
THEWILL recalls that Kane’s initial insistence to move away from Spurs was believed to be behind his late return to pre-season training in an attempt to force Tottenham’s hand, even if the club and player denied that was the case. He was left out of the first two games played this season but was a substitute in the 1-0 victory against Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend.
The sudden change of intent by Kane will be welcoming to manager Nuno Espirito Santo whose time so far at Tottenham has yielded an uplifting sense of confidence in the team, especially after their season-opening 1-0 defeat of defending champions City.
Santo will be looking forward to an exciting re-enacting of the partnership between Kane and Son Heung-min with the 28-year-old now fully onboard, after he re-committed to Spurs and Son having a good turn of form.
It is a downer for City though. After bringing in Jack Grealish with an English League transfer record, they had desired to fill that vacant slot vacated by Aguero with an EPL-accomplished striker like Kane and Pep Guardiola did not hide this when he said: “He [Kane] is a player for Tottenham Hotspur and if Tottenham don’t want to negotiate, it is finished.
“I think Man City and many clubs in the world want to try to sign him, we are not an exception, but it depends on Tottenham.”
Except City has an alternative target they can bring in before the August ending close of the transfer season, they might have to continue the 2021/2022 campaign with what they have or wait till the window opens again in January.
And they do have the firepower to go on after the savage 5-0 welcoming they gave Norwich at the Etihad in the EPL on Saturday with four goal scorers and a helping from Norwich goalkeeper Tim Krul.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
