Harry Kane finished the season with another landmark in his career.
Incredibly, Kane’s two-goal performance at Leeds on the final day of the campaign means he has played 500 games at club level - and now faces the biggest decision of his career. The Tottenham striker, who turns 30 on July 28, has one year left on his current deal at White Hart Lane and this summer will be pivotal in his future.
Spurs are determined not to let him join a Premier League rival and are even prepared to run the risk of letting Kane run down his contract to become a free agent in the summer of 2024. That would represent a £100m gamble on Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy’s part because they are likely to get some big-money bids this summer.
But to allow Kane to join the likes of Manchester United would be unthinkable for Tottenham at a time when the last thing they can do is to allow their best player, top scorer and talisman to leave when they have not even got a manager.
It is a mess and yet Kane is the one figure who offers Spurs hope and they are banking on his loyalty plus his love of breaking records as the reason he is unlikely to make life difficult this summer.
Kane’s remarkable career has taken him from Leicester, Norwich, Leyton Orient and Millwall to the top of the English game with Tottenham and winning a Golden Boot with his country at the World Cup.
He thrives on breaking records. He scored 30 goals in the Premier League this season, equalling his previous best tally when he won the top flight’s Golden Boot in 2018.
What should Kane do this summer - stay or go? Have your say in the comments below.
What might make Tottenham think about cashing in this summer would be a huge offer from a European giant (although Bayern Munich tend to be too financially prudent to spend £100m when he would be free in 12 months’ time). And there is no indication of a bid coming from Spain, Germany or Italy.
However, there is a feeling that Kane is too much of a “home bird” to move abroad and, more importantly, he is also chasing the Premier League record when it comes to goals. His tally this season has taken him to 213 Premier League goals and he is now rapidly closing in on Alan Shearer’s record of 260.
Logic dictates that he could break it in the space of two prolific seasons. That would be one hell of a motivation for Kane to stay and become the Premier League’s greatest goalscorer of all time.
Clearly, Kane has made it plain he wants to win trophies and it is hard to see Tottenham winning major silverware in the immediate future.
He did push to leave two years ago when Manchester City wanted him but the fact is that Spurs fans would not really begrudge him leaving when his contract expires just as long as it was not to join Arsenal or Chelsea. And that would be unthinkable anyway.
The blame for this mess, as the fans see it, is at Levy’s door. The way this soap opera has played out, the way Kane has positioned himself even in these past few weeks while addressing the fans directly, has ensured his status as club legend is as secure as ever.
And if he did run his contract down and leave for free, there would be no shortage of takers even with Kane at 31 next summer going into the 2024/25 season.
Buying a player in his 30s for £100m is one thing, getting a prolific striker who scores 30 goals a season for free is quite another.
There will be a huge queue of clubs both at home and abroad ready to sign one of the world’s best strikers. And yet Spurs will believe they would have a chance of convincing him to stay which is the other part of this transfer saga.
