Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy must do whatever possible to prevent selling Harry Kane to Real Madrid at any point.
History seems to repeat itself at an alarming rate for Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs have a squad capable of making splashes in a Premier League race and in Europe, they ultimately come up short of reaching their goals, and their best players and even the manager are linked with making moves to giants of club football such as Real Madrid. The football community has seen this movie before.
Here we are about to enter the middle of November 2017, and Tottenham are facing a familiar situation. The club recently notched a victory over the reigning European champions and advanced to the knockout stages of the Champions League, but a plethora of uncertainty hovers over Spurs before the start of the holiday season.
Most notably, manager Mauricio Pochettino and young talents Harry Kane and Dele Alli are rumored to be interested in leaving the club during the next summer transfer window depending on what occurs between the fall months and next May.
It must be pointed out that the latest stories claiming Kane could be convinced to leave Spurs for Real Madrid in the summer of 2018 have emerged from Spain and from outlets that have nothing to lose in suggesting elite footballers want to play home matches at the Santiago Bernabeu. For the sake of argument, though, assume there is some fire generating this type of smoke during the current international break when there’s little, if anything, to discuss about club football.
There is no public indication whatsoever Kane views Real or any other supposed top club as greener pastures. In August 2016, Sky Sports provided an exclusive interview during which Kane spoke openly about his future:
"“I’d love to stay here. The club is in great shape at the moment, and we’re going forward as a club, and that’s important.“As long as there’s a vision with the club, and we’re not stale, we’re going forward as a club. At the moment, we’re an excited group of young players with a great manager, great training ground and a new stadium coming too.“I’d love to stay here for the rest of my career. We’ll just have to see what happens.”"
Last month, the 24-year-old reiterated his desire to be a “one-club man,” per Darren Lewis of the Mirror. During that discussion, Kane cited Tottenham’s new stadium, set to open next summer, and the club’s forward movement as reasons for wanting to remain settled at Tottenham beyond the 2017-18 campaign.
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Those words will do little to silence hot takes about Kane yearning to win titles with the biggest clubs in the world due to the nature of the business, but that doesn’t mean anybody should ignore breadcrumbs being left by the front man.
Kane’s status as an elite player must also be considered regarding any conversations about his plans. England’s top goalscorer over the past few years deserves to be paid as such. He’s earned the right to make wage demands and to feature for a club that possesses the ambition to match his skills. The harsh truth of the matter is he owes Tottenham little beyond scoring goals.
None of that changes the fact the wounds of Spurs selling both Luka Modric and Gareth Bale to Real Madrid earlier this decade remain fresh. Losing a name like Alli or Christian Eriksen to the Spanish club would undeniably sting supporters, but not nearly as much as having to witness Kane get introduced at the Bernabeu. Kane, in the eyes of fans, is “one of our own,” a homegrown talent who has vocalized a love of Tottenham echoed by beloved figures like Ledley King and Rafael van der Vaart.
Fair or not, Tottenham allowing Kane to leave for Real would signal Spurs going in circles in the eyes of those who dedicate time and money supporting the North London club attempting to grow in stature and importance. Comments from Pochettino and chairman Daniel Levy about wanting to make Tottenham one of the country’s biggest clubs cannot be followed by Spurs completing a transaction similar to those that occurred in 2012 and 2013.
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Kane’s eyes for goal combined with his popularity among the Spurs faithful make him invaluable to his current team. No transfer fee will ease the pain caused by allowing him to follow in Modric’s and Bale’s footsteps, and Levy needs to realize that and then do whatever possible to ensure Kane pledges his next couple of seasons, at least, to Tottenham. Losing games and missing out on trophies are forgivable. Watching Kane become the next Galactico isn’t.