Should Harry Kane join Mantd or Man City to achieve his aims, or head abroad?

Published on: 30 March 2020

Harry Kane has certainly never lacked ambition. During an Instagram Live Q&A with Jamie Redknapp on Sunday, the striker spoke about breaking Wayne Rooney's England goalscoring record.

He also covered breaking Alan Shearer's Premier League scoring record and his desire to lift the Premier League trophy someday.

But in an alarming admission for Tottenham fans, Kane also told Redknapp and the thousands watching that he would leave the club if insufficient progress was made towards his ambitions.

Asked about his future at Spurs, Kane said: 'It's one of those things - I couldn't say "yes" and I couldn't say "no".

'I love Spurs, I'll always love Spurs but I've always said if I don't feel we're progressing as a team or going in the right direction, I'm not someone to stay there for the sake of it.

'I'm an ambitious player, I want to improve, get better and become one of the top, top players. It depends on what happens as a team and how we progress as a team.'

There's certainly a feeling that 'progress' isn't being made at White Hart Lane right now. A tumultuous season has seen Mauricio Pochettino sacked and replaced by Jose Mourinho.

Since then, Spurs have barely improved, sitting eighth in the Premier League table before the coronavirus shutdown, some seven points off the Champions League places.

They also crashed out of the FA Cup to Norwich City and were outclassed by RB Leipzig in the last 16 of the Champions League.

It has only heightened speculation that Kane, who at 26 has given Spurs six-and-a-half excellent seasons, could be on the move soon.

As England captain and one of the world's best strikers, there would certainly be no shortage of interest from football's elite. So where would Kane fit in best?

MANCHESTER UNITED

Kane has been linked with a move to Old Trafford for quite some time and his latest remarks will only fuel another round of speculation.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is overseeing a gradual renewal of United's squad as he attempts to elevate them back to the status of Premier League title contenders and recent acquisitions have been strong.

Before the coronavirus struck, there were encouraging signs that things were beginning to fall into place for Solskjaer's team, who were 11 undefeated.

The next phase of renewal is likely to involve signing a world class forward and, of course, Kane would fit the bill as a reliable goalscorer both in the Premier League and the Champions League to which United aspire next season.

But there are a couple of sticking points. Would Kane fit the profile of player United seem to be looking for at the moment? Solskjaer seems to want younger, quicker, more skilful players as opposed to a target man.

It explains their interest in Borussia Dortmund's Jadon Sancho who, aged 20, has greater long-term potential.

Besides, Sancho wouldn't exactly be cheap and it's doubtful United could finance the purchase of both him and Kane in the same window.

Solskjaer could also fear that bringing Kane in would inhibit the progress of Marcus Rashford and, to a lesser extent, teenager Mason Greenwood.

There's then the point that moving to United could well prove a sideways move for Kane. He wants to win things but United are some way off challenging the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City.

They may not even qualify for next season's Champions League and it's highly unlikely Kane would want to be bumming around in the Europa League.

While signing a 30-goal a season player like Kane would undoubtedly take United closer to where they want to be, you wonder if he fits the philosophy Solskjaer is trying to follow.

REAL MADRID

Kane has also inevitably been linked with Real Madrid in the way any world class player even remotely near the transfer market is linked with Real Madrid.

Spanish newspaper AS last week reported that Real are prepared to do battle with Juventus for the England striker whenever the next transfer window comes around.

But Real have also been linked with PSG's Kylian Mbappe and Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland of late so you can read into it what you will.

What can't be denied is that manager Zinedine Zidane's second coming at the Bernabeu hasn't been as successful as his first stint.

They are second in the league title race to a less-than-vintage Barcelona and trail Manchester City after the home first leg of their Champions League tie.

They're also far too reliant for goals on Karim Benzema, who has a love-hate relationship with the fans at the best of times.

The Frenchman has 19 goals this season and the next highest Real goalscorers are defender Sergio Ramos and Rodrygo, both on seven.

Eden Hazard struggled before he suffered his injury, Gareth Bale isn't trusted and the likes of Vinicius Junior and Lucas Vazquez aren't exactly banging them in.

So they're crying out for a prolific centre forward and Kane certainly fits the bill. If Euro 2020 had happened as planned and Kane impressed, you could guarantee Real would be sniffing around. But the same logic could be applied to Mbappe.

However, it has to be said that Real are more likely to meet Kane's ambitions when it comes to lifting silverware in the coming years, they'd pay him enormous wages and they remain a very attractive proposition.

JUVENTUS

Kane working in tandem with Cristiano Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala as Juventus return to the pinnacle of European football? It's an attractive proposition for Juve tifosi and neutrals alike.

Given Juve have won the last eight Italian league titles, they would be a pretty safe bet if Kane wanted to swiftly end his trophy drought.

And their desire to make forward strides in Europe, having not won the Champions League since 1996, was reflected in their purchase of Cristiano Ronaldo in 2018.

Ronaldo continues to supply the bulk of their goals, with Dybala chipping in, but Juventus may still feel they need another reliable scorer to properly challenge.

Kane would certainly fit the bill but could they afford him? Tottenham, always savvy negotiators, would likely command something approaching a world record fee for Kane if they chose to sell him anytime soon.

Juventus may have committed £100m to buy Ronaldo but when it comes to competing financially for a player in his prime, they may well find themselves blown out of the water.

As with Madrid and any other overseas club, it depends on whether Kane wants to relocate his wife and two young children outside of England, embracing a new language and culture.

But joining Juventus, if the interest was there, would surely be the quickest guarantee of adding some trophies to his CV.

MANCHESTER CITY

If Kane did want to remain in England, his options are pretty narrow. It's highly unlikely he would leave Spurs for London rivals Chelsea or Arsenal and champions-elect Liverpool certainly don't seem in desperate need of a scorer.

That leaves the two Manchester clubs, with City knowing they will need a replacement for Sergio Aguero, who could leave the Etihad Stadium this summer if he desires.

The Argentine is one of the finest strikers ever seen in English football and has scored 254 goals in 368 matches for City since his arrival in 2011.

Very few strikers currently out there could fill such enormous shoes, but Kane can match Aguero goal for goal. Indeed, he would probably become more prolific in that excellent City side.

Pep Guardiola is clearly a fan, having famously described Tottenham as 'The Harry Kane team' in 2017, and he was equally complimentary before last year's Champions League quarter-final with Spurs, calling Kane 'incredible'.

Guardiola would also likely improve Kane's game, assuming he stuck around long enough.

But of course the enormous dark shadow over all of this is City's possible ban from the Champions League for Financial Fair Play breaches.

Not only could they be absent from Europe's elite competition for the next two seasons - CAS appeal pending - and therefore not match Kane's ambition to play at the very top level, but the resulting need to confirm to FFP regulations would likely mean big money buys will be beyond them.

BARCELONA

Barcelona need to be part of the conversation not only because they're among Europe's elite but because they've suffered from something of a striker crisis this season.

Injuries to Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele have left them looking light up front and Antoine Griezmann doesn't look entirely happy in Barcelona colours.

The situation became so desperate they needed emergency dispensation to sign Martin Brathwaite from Leganes last month.

So Barcelona need a quality forward and preferably someone other than Neymar, who is almost constantly linked with a return from Paris.

Kane would be highly likely to prosper in Spain given his excellence but Barca appear to already be prioritising other targets for when the transfer window comes around.

Lautaro Martinez of Inter Milan is their No 1 priority for the summer and we're probably more likely to see the Argentine lining up alongside his compatriot Lionel Messi next season than Kane.

Source: m.allfootballapp.com

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website.
Learn more