Tottenham have made a massive new contract offer to Harry Kane that would significantly improve his £200,000-a-week terms. But the club’s talisman has no immediate intention to sign it and will certainly not do so while the transfer window remains open.
Kane, who celebrates his 30th birthday on 28 July, has entered the final 12 months of his six-year Spurs deal and is coveted by a host of leading clubs, including Bayern Munich, who last week bid an initial €70m. Thomas Tuchel, the Bayern manager, is pushing hard for Kane.
Spurs’ position is that Kane is not for sale. The chairman, Daniel Levy, on the back foot after a terrible season, is mindful that his popularity would plummet further if Kane were to depart.
Levy believes Kane will come to see that his long-term future is best served at Spurs and not only because of the money he would make under the new contract. There is the hope that Ange Postecoglou, can turn things around. The new manager wants to play on the front foot in a 4‑3‑3 and, with the help of Levy and the increasingly influential chief scout, Leonardo Gabbanini, his squad is taking shape.
Spurs have signed the goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario and the midfielder James Maddison and are poised to announce the signing of the winger Manor Solomon. The priority now is central defence and, with Davinson Sánchez and Japhet Tanganga up for sale, they could add as many as three players in the department.
Spurs are in advanced talks for Wolfsburg’s £30m-rated Micky van de Ven and Edmond Tapsoba of Bayer Leverkusen is another target. They would take one or the other. Tapsoba would be more expensive at £50m. The club are also interested in the permanent signing of Clement Lenglet from Barcelona; he spent last season on loan with them. Spurs hope to persuade Barcelona to release him on a free transfer, reasoning that the saving the Spanish club would make in wages would be enough to satisfy them.
Kane, who is due to report for pre‑season early next week, has not yet met Postecoglu. The player’s position is that every option remains open to him: leaving in the summer, staying for the season before going as a free agent and even extending his contract, although that is rated as the least likely.
Kane’s comments towards the end of last season about how Spurs had lost some of the values they had under the former manager Mauricio Pochettino continue to resonate. Postecoglu’s most urgent task is to reboot the club’s culture and re-establish a connection with the fanbase.
