Looking around at the top of world football right now, and it seems like it’s a good time to be a proven striker.
Which is why I think it won’t just be Harry Kane who will be in demand this summer, but Mo Salah - though obviously I’m not suggesting for one minute that Liverpool should, or will, sell him.
When you think of the strikers we all talk about and place at the top of the European game, then only Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland are young, still developing forwards.
Otherwise the names we are talking about this summer are the names that we’ve been talking about for five or six years, or even longer. It’s Messi, Lewandowski, Benzema, Kane, Salah and to a lesser extent these days, Neymar and Ronaldo.
Two of those have left two of the richest clubs in the world this past week, and are moving out of European football completely, while you’d put your money on PSG desperately trying to unload Neymar.
So they and Madrid are in the market for a proven top class striker. And that’s where it gets interesting. Because two more of the biggest clubs in the world - Bayern Munich and Manchester United - have been looking for a proven, top class striker for the past year.
Lewandowski looks like he’ll finish his career at Barcelona, while no way can I see Haaland or Mbappe being available this summer, or any time soon. Which leaves Kane and Salah…and Neymar, if anyone is daft enough to take a punt on a player who looks like he’s had enough of football.
Four of the biggest clubs in the world who want one thing - the guarantee of goals. And two strikers in English football who have delivered them magnificently over the past seven years. There’s going to be a helluva scrap.
I only mention Salah because I’ve thought for a few months now that he could be targeted this summer, and it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if both Madrid and PSG come in for him - with the French club nailed on in my opinion to try and get him.
I don’t think Liverpool fans should be too worried, because he’s got a long contract and the club has proved in the past few years they won’t be forced into selling unless its on their own terms.
In saying that, that his statement at the end of the season declaring how devastated he was they didn’t finish in the top four, and there’s no excuse for it was a worry. To me, that didn’t sound like Mo, but his agent. And we know how HE operates.
PSG have to bring in a big, big name to replace Messi this summer, and probably Neymar too. So they’ll be swinging big - and they could have a real go at Kane too.
I think Madrid are probably favourites though, because when you look at it, he is almost a like for like replacement for Benzema. Same lethal finishing, same linking the build up play, same that he comes alive in the penalty area but is not all about that.
So they won’t have to disrupt their shape or gameplan too much. And when you’ve had a player like Benzema for so long, then you don’t want to be taking a gamble on someone who has potential, but is not a guarantee.
I look at Victor Osimhen at Napoli, and he’s probably the next best after the names I’ve mentioned. But he’s not yet anywhere near the bracket of the others. So it would be a gamble. Madrid don’t tend to do that.
I’ve watched Harry Kane closely though, and to me there’s one factor which should give Manchester United fans some hope that they could still get him this summer.
He’s spoken several times about breaking Alan Shearer’s Premier League goalscoring record, and he seems passionate about it. He won’t do that if he goes to PSG or Madrid. And it won’t be about money for him.
That seems a daft thing to say, because of course it’s about money, but at that level you get it anyway, no matter where you go. The one thing I would say though, is I know it will be about winning trophies for him.
He’s not won one yet in his entire Spurs career, which is shocking. I was lucky enough to win a few trophies in my time, but of course I’d have liked more. A lot more. He will feel the same. So United have to convince him they can deliver that.
There won’t be a lack of takers. You look at the top strikers going on towards their late 30s these days, and it’s not a gamble signing a 30 year old any more - sports science is so superior these days than even in my time, that it delivers longevity.
Will it happen? I have no crystal ball, but I do know that there will be a merry-go-round this summer for strikers, with the top clubs trying to outspin their rivals.
And I would say this - those massive clubs look for genuinely statement signings. So let’s leave it at that.
