Another summer full of speculation over Harry Kane's future looks set to play out unless Tottenham Hotspur can tie their record goalscorer down to a fresh deal.
Kane, who turns 30 in July, faces a huge decision over the next step of his career with what may be the final big pay day of his playing days. His current contract runs out in the summer of 2024, meaning Spurs have reached a situation where their best player - and their all-time record goalscorer - now has just over 15 months left on his deal.
football.london understands that while Tottenham's managing director of football Fabio Paratici has spoken to Kane's camp on a couple of occasions regarding plans to sit down to discuss a new deal in the near future, the club have as of yet not entered into any formal discussions over a new contract for the England captain.
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Kane has always made it clear that his main aim has been to win silverware with Tottenham and while there is no rush to sit down over a new deal with the season reaching its business end, the forward is understood to remain open to discussing fresh terms with the club. football.london also understands that Kane's future is not linked with that of Antonio Conte.
It would be easy to forgive Kane for growing increasingly frustrated at another trophy-less season at Tottenham. He has done his part once again so far with 20 Premier League goals in 27 games - becoming only the third player to score at least 20 Premier League goals in a season on six occasions.
The striker did have a less successful Champions League campaign this time around, with just the one goal in eight matches, having plundered 20 goals in 24 games in the competition in previous seasons. In the domestic cups, Kane contentiously played just 25 minutes in the FA Cup exit against understrength Championship side Sheffield United, but he did start and captain Spurs in their 2-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest in the Carabao Cup third round.
Yet overall this has been yet another season in which Kane has proved his worth while the club has struggled for consistency around him. He became Tottenham's record goalscorer amid plenty of fanfare and now sits on 270 goals for the north London outfit from 424 matches.
With that in mind, it's difficult to see why Spurs have not yet entered into talks over a new deal for their star man, unless there is a desire to first clarify what the future holds at the club and whether that includes Champions League football, Conte at the helm and if not who will replace him, while Paratici's own future is questionable after recent events in Italy.
Kane admitted when asked about potential contract talks in January: "There's not been much talk if I'm totally honest. I'm sure they'll be conversations over the coming months but to be honest I'm just focused on this season and doing my best for the team."
Little has changed since and the same need for clarity could equally be said for Kane as he will want to know what the prospect of further years at Tottenham would look like and whether progress will be made.
Another reason for Spurs not rushing into discussions could be that they feel they have more time to play with as an exit for Kane this summer remains almost as difficult as it has in previous years.
Tottenham maintain they have absolutely no intention of selling their star player this summer despite his contract situation.
Kane took his tally to 203 Premier League goals on Saturday, which means he is now only five behind Wayne Rooney, who is second in the competition's all-time top scorer list. The Tottenham striker is now just 57 goals off Alan Shearer's Premier League tally of 260 and it is that chase that is likely to prevent him from moving to a team abroad within the coming years as he shows no sign of slowing down in front of goal.
That leaves Premier League clubs as his only destination, with Manchester United and Chelsea the two big clubs looking for strikers at the end of this season.
Yet it's difficult to see Spurs chairman Daniel Levy accepting any bids from English clubs for Kane this summer, unless someone makes the most eye-watering of bids for a then 30-year-old in the final year of his contract.
Even then, Levy would likely weigh up the money gained against the hefty costs of attempting to replace what Kane brings to the team with at least two signings in a striker and a creative playmaker.
On top of that, a team without Harry Kane in it is less likely to qualify for the Champions League and therefore would miss out on the huge sum of prize money and TV revenue that clubs receive. For context, Spurs earned £90m in reaching the Champions League final in 2019 and £61m the following year for reaching the last 16. That income has only increased with each passing year.
So while some might suggest Spurs would not want to lose Kane for free in the summer of 2024, it's not that cut and dried a financial decision when you take all of the above factors into account.
The first step though needs to be both sides sitting down and discussing exactly what the future holds at Tottenham, Kane's part in it all - potentially as captain - and whether he can finally win the trophies his goals have deserved.
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