Manchester United will see straight through the flurry of reports concerning Harry Kane on Monday. The suggestion he is willing to renew at Tottenham Hotspur feels as remote as Antonio Conte being their coach this time next year.
Kane's brother, Charlie, was exposed so publicly and humiliatingly over the brothers' failed attempt to engineer a transfer to Manchester City 18 months ago he daren't risk antagonising the Spurs fanbase again. 'Charlie Kane' trended on Twitter more than his sibling during the summer of 2021.
'CK66' has been rebranded as the more singular The Harry Kane Company. To counter last week's reports of United's interest, some suspect the Kanes have embarked on a charm offensive with Spurs supporters. It helps Harry is on the cusp of breaking the feted Jimmy Greaves's club goalscoring record that has stood for almost 53 years.
Also read: What the United squad will look like when the window closes
Only when Kane does leave Spurs - this summer or next - fans will bemoan the false hope they were fed. Kane is an undeniably ambitious player and his six-year renewal in 2018 was an early harbinger his brother was not cut out for dealing with Daniel Levy.
Tottenham lost to United in the FA Cup semi-finals that year and dropped below them in the Premier League table. Yes, they were 90 minutes away from Champions League utopia in 2019 but that fortuitous run to the final masked cracks. Mauricio Pochettino was gone five months later.
Kane has a skip full of individual honours and is already level with Wayne Rooney as England's record goalscorer. Kane has retained world-class status for more than six years and, with his accomplished winner at Fulham on Monday night, reaffirmed he remains one of the best on the planet at putting the ball between the sticks.
He will be 30 at the start of next season and has maybe four more years of elite football in him. Kane was injury-free for the entirety of last season and only missed three Premier League games in the 2020-21 season through an ankle injury.
United have never not been interested in Kane since his breakthrough year of 2015. He has always been unattainable and United have never been in a position of strength to even test the waters.
"They keep everybody they want to keep," Jose Mourinho said in Washington during United's pre-season tour in 2017. "They keep Dele Alli, Kane and Alderweireld, they keep Eric Dier, they keep everyone they want to keep."
United wanted Dier that summer and Dier wanted the move, only he did not rock the boat and a bid was never submitted. United have not bought anyone from Tottenham since Dimitar Berbatov in the final hours of deadline day in September 2008.
Tottenham resisted all summer and accused United of "disgraceful" conduct. Levy accepted a belated bid from nouveau riche Manchester City but Berbatov was set on United. "Dimitar Berbatov, one look at City and he said f--k off," the United fans chanted.
United eventually agreed a club record £30.75million fee for Berbatov. Sir Alex Ferguson later complained dealing with Levy was more painful than his hip replacement.
Levy remains in situ at Spurs amid 'We want Levy out' chants home and away. If Spurs fans want to keep Kane then their chances are better off with Levy.
For United, it is a quandary: they need a striker, Kane is one of the best around and he will be into the final 12 months of his deal in the summer. Erik ten Hag happily signed two 30-year-olds in Christian Eriksen and Casemiro, his favoured midfield axis and two of United's most influential performers this season.
Yet prising Kane from Spurs has the makings of a summer ordeal everyone could do without. The Manchester Evening News reported on Tottenham's resistance to selling Kane in 2021 in early July and City's private admission of defeat in early August. City sources still briefed to the contrary.
Kane is durable but has suffered significant wear and tear over almost 10 years as the focal point of an elite Premier League side. He has also tweaked his game in the last three years, flitting between a No.9 and a No.10.
Liverpool and Manchester City invested in considerably younger marksmen last year and Gabriel Jesus is only 25 at Arsenal. Victor Osimhen, the prolific Napoli goalscorer United are monitoring, has 14 goals in 19 games for the Italian champions-elect and turned 24 last month.
Osimhen is under contract for a year longer than Kane and Napoli drive a hard bargain. They have obtained their most expensive fees for strikers in Gonzalo Higuain and Edinson Cavani and Osimhen is likely to have the cachet of Napoli's first title-winning top scorer since the immortal Diego Maradona.
Kane and Osimhen could easily command minimum £100million valuations. Ten Hag admires Goncalo Ramos, in rampant form for Benfica prior to his World Cup hat-trick, and the Portuguese club have fetched more than €1bn in fees this millennium. Mohammed Kudus has been in more modest form for Ajax, who still extracted up to £85.51m for Antony.
Kane is an opportunity and dealing with Charlie would not be as onerous as their last discussion with a familial representative. Madame Rabiot lived up to her billing.
READ MORE:
