Harry Kane to Man Utd: Fresh Spurs dig opens transfer door and £100m move must happen

Lewis Oldham
Man Utd-linked Kane

Harry Kane and Manchester United have a transfer opportunity this summer that they cannot pass up. This £100m move needs to happen…

 

“Where we’re at as a club, we should be winning trophies. That’s always the aim. The top four [being our only target] is a consequence of not playing as well as we want to play.

“Now the top four is all we can fight for so that’s going to be the goal and hopefully we can achieve that. But for sure, it’s not enough for this club.”

These were the words of a disgruntled striker whose team have condemned themselves to another season without a trophy.

Tottenham exited the Champions League with a whimper, registering just two shots on target in the home return leg against AC Milan earlier this week.

That 1-0 aggregate defeat added to Spurs’ woes following their shocking exits from the Carabao Cup and FA Cup at the hands of Nottingham Forest and Sheffield United respectively.

Their star man is nearing the end of his contract but Tottenham are doing a terrible job of tempting him to stay long-term.

You cannot fault Antonio Conte’s career achievements – including his work at fourth-placed Spurs last season – but his team continues to lack substance in attack and his pragmatic ways are doing Kane a disservice.

Wednesday night’s goalless draw with AC Milan – their performance more specifically – was a new low for Tottenham this term and it will surely lead Kane to further question whether his future should lie in north London.

Spurs have a team brimming with ageing players. Even their usual stronger performers – Son-Heung min and Dejan Kulusevski – have been shadows of their best selves of late.

Tottenham are clearly a team going backwards, while the side most interested in signing Kane are heading in the other direction.

Don’t let the 7-0 “freak” result against Liverpool influence your opinion of Man Utd too much; they are still a team on the up, largely thanks to Erik ten Hag.

The Dutchman has worked wonders to get more out of this squad than any of his predecessors and they will only become stronger with each passing transfer window.

Ten Hag wants a striker and a midfielder more than anything else this summer, with Manchester Evening News suggesting that Kane has been ‘earmarked as his prime target’.

And you cannot blame him. While Wout Weghorst is an alright stop-gap, United need a new marquee number nine, especially after the loanee did the unthinkable and touched the “This is Anfield sign”.

Weghorst did not do too badly against Real Betis in what was a very fun Europa League tie, but you feel that Kane would have scored a hat-trick with relative ease, while United’s current striker could only manage one goal via a rebound.

Ten Hag has United on track to eventually get back to seriously challenging for the Premier League title. A striker of Kane’s calibre is required for them to make that next step in their progression.

While some would scoff at a £100m fee for a striker who turns 30 in the summer, Kane is more than proven as a world-class frontman and you would have to back him to maintain his lofty standards for another four-plus years, especially given how he has adapted his game in recent seasons.

Kane-Man Utd is a match made in heaven. Marcus Rashford, Antony and Jadon Sancho will only benefit from the Englishman’s superb link-up play when dropping deep.

United have been linked with Kane for what feels like his whole career. The club’s past struggles may have put him off a move back then, but with the trajectory both are on, it is the perfect time to make this dream transfer a reality.

Spurs will rue losing their main man but they surely would not begrudge him a transfer elsewhere that would likely see him end his trophy drought and further enable him to break Alan Shearer’s Premier League goalscoring record.

And as a neutral, for the sake of the Premier League and future title races, it is a move that will only enhance the division.

Man City are going nowhere and even if Arsenal fall short this season, their youthful squad will be primed to go again in the coming years. Jude Bellingham’s Liverpool will be back with a vengeance and there’s Chelsea, whose ludicrous spending will lead to them clicking into gear at some stage.

Newcastle United will be in the mix eventually, but Man Utd will be right there with the leading contenders should the Kane deal get over the line.

There has always been a fascination with what a post-Spurs career move would look like for Kane and if the most sensible resolution plays out, we will finally get to find that out next season.