England captain Harry Kane’s Tottenham U-turn on Wednesday 25th August saw the player opt to remain in the employment of Tottenham Hotspur beyond the summer, ruling out a move to Manchester City after months of speculation about his future.
Kane’s Tottenham U-Turn
Striker Chooses to Remain with North London Side
Kane, who is aiming to become Spurs’ record goalscorer came through the club’s youth ranks making his debut in 2011. He was farmed out on loan to Milwall, Norwich City and Leicester City before establishing himself in the first team in the 2013/14 season. He signed a six-year contract with Tottenham Hotspur in 2018 but the 28-year-old announced at the end of the 2020/21 season that he was willing to depart the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before he went on to represent England at Euro 2020 scoring four goals en route to a second-place finish at the tournament.
Before the tournament, it was hinted that his preferred destination would be Manchester City after the league champions parted ways with record goal scorer Sergio Aguero. The striker spoke to The Overlap about his admiration for City star Kevin De Bruyne stating that the Belgian midfielder was a striker’s dream to play with.
Change of Regimes at Tottenham
While Kane was away with the national team, Tottenham appointed Nuno Espirito Santo as the new manager and Fabio Paratici as sporting director. Paratici worked with Tottenham owner Daniel Levy to ward off numerous approaches from Manchester City. According to The Athletic, Manchester City offered five players to Tottenham in a straight swap for Kane, before another offer of £100 million was rejected by Levy. Kane, meanwhile, failed to resume pre season training when he was due despite claiming he had received permission to resume later than the other members of the squad, sparking rumours that he was trying to force a move to City.
Kane’s Return to First-Team Action
The striker was not part of the squad that defeated Manchester City 1-0 on the opening day of the 2021/22 season, and was left out of the Tottenham squad that lost 1-0 to Pacos de Ferreira in Portugal in their UEFA Europa Conference League playoff. Kane made his Tottenham return in their 1-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on matchday two of the season. The striker announced via his Facebook and Twitter pages that;
“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”.
What Next for Manchester City Following Kane U-Turn?
Manchester City have seen their pursuit of the striker end after months of chasing the 28-year-old. After signing midfielder Jack Grealish for a British record of £100 million, the club was ready to smash the record for Kane as they saw two late bids of €122 million and €150 million turned down by Levy, according to journalist Fabrizio Romano.
City manager Pep Guardiola has openly expressed the club’s desire to acquire the services of Kane, but has been left disappointed by the striker’s decision to remain with Tottenham. Manchester City are now set to turn to one of 36-year-old Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo or 2020/21 Serie A Young Player of the Year, Fiorentina striker Dusan Vlahovic. While Vlahovic is estimated to cost around €100 million, Ronaldo would only cost around €30 million. Romano reported that Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes was already in talks with Manchester City over a potential move as Guardiola looks to sign a striker to help with his pursuit of UEFA Champions glory.
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