Harry Kane

[Dakes]

I can’t recall ever seeing fans of a club believe some of the things those loons on bluemoon do.

They really believe we should accept whatever they want to pay because they consider it reasonable.
I can’t imagine thinking thst about any club whose player we might want.

And there’s also now a conspiracy theory thst Lewis and Levy are in a cartel with LFC, MUFC and AFC to destroy MCFC and we are being told not to deal with them by our cartel members !!

I can't believe there's a City fan out there imagining Danielo Levscobar and Stanez 'El Guno' Kroenke smoking cigars and plotting the downfall of City.

 

[bigfrooj]

Why would Daniel Levy take calls from City anyway? They know the price by now and all he expects is a written offer or absolutely nothing.
This is now a deal requiring chairman to chairman negotiating, not directors or other employees. If Mansour thinks he is getting laughed at within football, or worse still by other Middle Eastern people of importance, that’ll be the end of it, and I think we’re getting to that stage.

 

[Wick3d]

If he was so determined why not hand in a transfer request? Oh, because he loses the loyalty bonuses he believes he is entitled to, even after behaving like a mug. Money, it always comes down to money. Self interested wanker.

 

[brasil_spur]

I agree about keeping our own counsel and not getting in tit-for-tat media circus. But what I am talking about is taking a similar approach to the one Dortmund took last season with Sancho. Name a price and a date and then move on. It also made the transfer this summer go through as soon as the window opened which was great for all involved.

I agree with this. There's a way to word this to make the whole thing look even worse for Kane and City and to stop the media from their "Spurs are holding him to ransom" bullshit that's crept into some articles.

 

[mattspur1]

Jordan hammering Harry Kane & his camp on Talksport. I love that guy!

 

[jaewalka]

The single most telling thing for me, is that (as far as we know) he hasn’t handed in a transfer request.

If this is indeed the case, it tells me everything I need to know about his priorities.

Surely, if ‘winning trophies’ is your be-all-and-end-all, you’d do whatever it takes, no? Even if that means losing out on a huge chunk of cash.

Maybe - just maybe - City have also noted this, and haven’t gone ‘all in’ with the right bid because they have doubts about how much he actually wants them? After all, he hasn’t shown the commitment to leaving us for them, that a transfer request would demonstrate.

Just a thought…

Yeah. I’d imagine that’s his final roll of the dice if he really wants to move. If cash is king to the Kanes it won’t happen.

 

[Fredo]

Simon Jordan talking total sense on Talksport live rn

 

[Spurs Lodge Kittens]

Smug Sam Wallace's Daily Telegraph piece from this morning for those interested. A follow-up opinion piece from the Burt exclusive last night:

Harry Kane's anger makes this a lose-lose situation for Daniel Levy
Chairman is under intense scrutiny after recent decisions backfired and his handling of striker raises more concerns
SAM WALLACE
CHIEF FOOTBALL WRITER
18 August 2021 • 7:30am

There is always the consideration that Daniel Levy is just playing for time, pushing the price a little higher, antagonising the key actors and then, when everyone is just thoroughly exhausted by it all, Harry Kane will be permitted to join Manchester City in the late evening of Aug 31, transfer deadline day.

Certainly no one is allowed to know the full strategy of the Tottenham Hotspur chairman, just a version of the plan that governs their actions accordingly, and only when the moment comes will his decision on Kane’s future be clear. Yet if the strategy really is to keep the Spurs captain at the club in spite of the offer from City which is now understood to stand at £125 million, what does that future look like?
The Telegraph Sport report that lays clear the extent of Kane’s frustration with Levy, of the agreements that he thought were made, and his disbelief at their abandonment, opens up a different question. That question is: what kind of relationship will Kane have with Levy if and when the door is finally closed on a move?

The player’s view is clear: he was told last summer that if Spurs failed to win a trophy and finish in the top four then he would be permitted to leave. There would be those who would roll their eyes at what they would see as his naivety. Yet all he did was trust in what he was told and one might ask what else he was supposed to do.

More pertinently, what is it that he is supposed to do now? Perhaps it will turn out that Kane will lose this hand of transfer poker. Although it will also be hard to see that as a win for Levy.

At the heart of the Levy problem is an acknowledgment that if Kane is told to stay, it cannot fail to change the way he is as a footballer. Even the most dedicated elite player will struggle with what he clearly perceives to be a broken agreement and it is hard to see where his relationship with the club and their chairman goes from here.

Kane has set his mind on the transfer. He believes it was what he agreed and now that appears to be unravelling for him, things cannot simply be the same again. His professionalism has been called into question over a series of missed training sessions, despite him being adamant that Levy himself authorised the extended holiday. Is Levy so certain that the right outcome on Kane now, given all that has passed between them – and no matter what – is refusing an offer from City?

The mythology of the Spurs chairman as the grandmaster rather disintegrates when you look at his track record in recent years. There was the Jose Mourinho appointment that blazed out so quickly, the demand for player wage reductions so soon into lockdown, the furlough reversal, and the colossal misjudgment of the European Super League. There have been battles fought that would have been better avoided. Kane feels like another one. A British-record transfer fee for a footballer who will be 29 at his next birthday in a Covid-hit transfer market is not the crushing defeat that Levy might once have perceived it to be.

Levy has cultivated his image carefully. Spurs are in a better place since the Enic takeover, as one might expect given the astonishing broadcast revenue rises in the intervening 20 years, but they are hardly an unequivocal success. At some critical moments Levy has made the wrong call.

Whether it was the failure to sustain a decent title challenge by investing during the January 2012 transfer window or the declining relationship with Mauricio Pochettino, there have been good days and bad days.
Levy is as sensitive to criticism as any other, especially the fans. Most of all he will be wondering whether keeping Kane at all costs will be one decision that comes back to haunt him.

 

[Moonie]

I agree about keeping our own counsel and not getting in tit-for-tat media circus. But what I am talking about is taking a similar approach to the one Dortmund took last season with Sancho. Name a price and a date and then move on. It also made the transfer this summer go through as soon as the window opened which was great for all involved.

I don’t disagree really, we could come out and say “We have set a price for Harry which interested parties know. They have until xx/xx/xxxx to match our price, after that the matter will be closed, we will not be commenting further on the subject” we shouldn’t have too mind, and if anything it will only increase paper talk IMO. I just want it over one way or the other!!

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

If he was so determined why not hand in a transfer request? Oh, because he loses the loyalty bonuses he believes he is entitled to, even after behaving like a mug. Money, it always comes down to money. Self interested wanker.

I have never, ever, changed jobs or done anything to facilitate such as change for more money. Honest

I know, I know, he's multi, why would he care.

Exfuckingactly. And we don't know why so all we can do is guess.

 

[PLTuck]

Those 2 articles can be summed up as....

#FreeHarry

 

[spids]

Jordan is a great pundit on all off pitch matters. And he is bang on the money 95% of the time.

 

[mark87]

#FreeHarry

#payuporgetfuckedcity

 

[Gspurs11]

Kane's camp trying to tap into the anti-Levy sentiment among the fanbase for support lol. I think the vast majority of fans are firmly on Levy's side for this saga

 

[glacierSpurs]

W

It might have already been posted but I can see some are still asking for it (and there's a lot of pages to trawl through to get it): *I now see it's also on the transfer ticker so apologies for repitition.

Harry Kane tells Daniel Levy: Stick to our deal and let me leave Spurs for Manchester City
Manchester City’s bid understood to be £125m in total – but Daniel Levy is refusing to even discuss what would be a new British record deal

ByJason Burt, (Charlie Kane) CHIEF FOOTBALL CORRESPONDENT17 August 2021 • 10:30pm

Harry Kane has thrown down the gauntlet to Daniel Levy to make good on an understanding that he could leave Tottenham Hotspur if the club failed to win a trophy or finished outside the top four last season.
It can be revealed by Telegraph Sport that just two weeks out from the end of the transfer window Kane feels that

• Levy has not honoured a specific meeting at the end of the 2019/20 season where Kane was promised he could leave if Spurs underachieved the next season
• Kane felt Levy signed off on his extra week of holiday only for a club miscommunication leading to fans turning against him
• It is believed City have already made a £125m bid, but Levy is refusing to sell and is no longer accepting calls

Sources close to the England captain have told Telegraph Sport that a frustrated Kane believes the Tottenham chairman has reneged on the promise or so-called ‘gentleman’s agreement’ he made in a meeting before the start of last season.
The striker believes he should be allowed to join Manchester City, wants to leave on good terms with his relationship with the fans being extremely important to him and has reiterated all of this in subsequent meetings with Levy. Kane feels that the board has failed to match his ambition and should negotiate.

It is also understood that City’s bid for Kane already amounts to £125million in total – not the £100million that has been previously reported - but that Levy has become so entrenched that he is now refusing to even discuss what would be a British record transfer.
Spurs have insisted Kane is not for sale but the two clubs are understood to have been in dialogue for over a year about the move, with Kane aware of what was happening, but much to City’s frustration there are currently no talks and no indication Levy will change his mind.
City sources have indicated the club is expected to make “one final push” to sign Kane before the transfer window closes on August 31. Sources also say that Kane’s intention is not to make one last effort to go but rather to want the full situation to be explained out of respect for the fans.

Despite being named in the original 25-man squad Kane is not expected to travel to Portugal for Spurs’ Europa Conference League play-off against Pacos de Ferreira but that is more to do with his fitness after returning late for training - and the player is also frustrated at how that episode has been portrayed believing he had been given an extended holiday by the club who should have clarified that publicly.
If Kane does not secure his move to City he will obviously make himself available for selection, as he already has done, remain professional and continue to perform for Spurs as best he can, irrespective of the situation with the chairman.
But he also wants the club’s fans to understand why he feels the time has come to finally leave in search of silverware and certainly not for more money. Kane has been consistent in interviews over the past couple of years as to how much it means to him to win trophies at this stage of his career.

Kane’s frustration largely appears to hinge on a meeting last year. The 28-year-old accepts that he has three years left on his contract but, according to sources close to him, he was told by Levy that Spurs would go all out to win a trophy and achieve a Champions League spot.
Kane’s understanding from the meeting was that if that did not happen – Spurs subsequently finished seventh in the Premier League in a disappointing campaign and lost the League Cup final - he would be allowed to leave. Kane finished the season with his third Golden Boot as the Premier League’s top-scorer and was also the leading assist-maker.

It is why Kane also then felt empowered to conduct a Sky Sports interview with former England coach Gary Neville in which, in a measured discussion, he effectively confirmed he would like to leave Spurs and wanted a “good, honest conversation with the chairman” about his future and what he could be sold for. Kane maintains that a sale, for what would beat the £100 million that City paid for Jack Grealish, would be good for Spurs as well as for him.

It was also made clear that Kane wanted his future sorted out before leading England at the European Championship and, given his belief there was a gentleman’s agreement, he fully expected that to happen.

The greatest disappointment for Kane is that he hoped if a deal could be struck then he would be able leave Spurs with the blessing of the club and the fans but that has clearly not yet happened.

Kane was left out of Sunday’s opening league match – ironically at home to City – and was not at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after being told he did not need to be with the squad. He watched the game on television and heard the fans chanting “Are you watching Harry Kane?” towards the end of the unexpected victory.

According to sources Kane fully accepts the reaction but also hopes that the fans will understand his position particularly after all the successful years of service he has given to the club, where he came through the academy, and the way he has conducted himself. Wanting to leave is not a slight to the supporters or club but a sign of his ambition.

It partly explains Kane’s statement on his Instagram account when he felt his “professionalism” was being questioned and he was letting the fans down when he apparently returned to training a week late and then had to undergo a period of self-isolation. “While I won’t go into the specifics of the situation, I want to clarify that I would never, and have never, refused to train. I will be returning to the club tomorrow, as planned”, he wrote on August 6.

Kane believes he was offered an extended break by Levy but that there was a breakdown in communication and this was not relayed by the club’s football department or head coach Nuno Espirito Santo. Kane had already booked a week’s break in Florida and was on his way from the Bahamas when it transpired he was expected back sooner with the player eventually arranging to return via Paris to get back as best he could.

According to sources, Kane felt he was given contradictory instructions and hoped the club would clarify the mix-up and sources suggest he has been left disappointed by the failure to do so which has fuelled the anger of some fans who believe he has let them down.
Kane does not intend to submit a transfer request, even in a late attempt to try to force the move, because it is clear what his position is and what he wants to happen and he has even already said this publicly.

Neither will he try toforce the move and will fully accept the situation if he has to stay and continue his career at Spurs even if he still harbours hopes of leaving for City in the next few days if Levy is willing to re-open talks.

Wow.... Everything is about him, him and only him.

He has been trying so hard to undermine the whole club in all things that had happened so far and then went on to say he will try to be professional, and then went on to say how bad the club has been but it's OK he will continue to be professional but then again continuing the club shouldn't be doing that.

 

[Fredo]

Jordan on the 25 difference between 125-150: that sort of money falls out their pocket on the way to the game

ahahahaha ffs its just so true, just fucking pay up or fuck off! you have the money!

 

[BucSpur]

It seems like the gentlemen's agreement was Kane asking to be able to leave if we didn't make top4 or win a cup and Levy agreeing to that....and then looking around bewildered as Harry and Charlie left the room.


What is sticking in my craw is the feeling i get that Harry thinks he has done us a favour the last few years. Like the contracts weren't quite good enough, the opportunities to win not quite there and that he was giving us something so that we would owe him in the future.

Even if he stays, even if he signed a new contract, even if he apologised and said he forgot what's really important*, even if he scored the title winning goal at a packed home stadium it just wouldn't be AS special as it could have been and everyone knows it, at least for me.

What an absolute fool, keep your mouth shut, go and win some trophies, come back for a swan song and all would have been ok and might have even put a genuine lasting wedge between the fans and Enic.

I don't believe Gerrard and Rooney were forgiven either, they aren't AS revered as they could have been. No fan forgets that stuff, ever.

* if the sincerity of that was OFF the scale then maybe maybe maybeeeee

 

[spids]

I have never, ever, changed jobs or done anything to facilitate such as change for more money. Honest

I know, I know, he's multi, why would he care.

Exfuckingactly. And we don't know why so all we can do is guess.

Football is different to real work. If Kane handed in a transfer request it could ultimately make the fee lower. Does he want to win trophies or not? You are right though, we are guessing - and I cannot imagine that Charlie would have had the insight to include a lucrative loyalty bonus in his contract anyway, the same way he did not think to put a release clause in it.

 

[wrd]

Jordan on the 25 difference between 125-150: that sort of money falls out their pocket on the way to the game

ahahahaha ffs its just so true, just fucking pay up or fuck off! you have the money!

It's infuriating, it's like they're worried about gaining a reputation which they already have. It's ridiculous.

I'll never understand how man city looked at their team and went, yep we need to prioritise signing the guy we have 4 players exactly like who also has a release clause and not the only world class player available in the position we desperately need.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

I appreciate Levy is great at wringing blood out of a stone, and all along I have wanted him to make this as painful as possible for Man City and Kane. But now I think he needs to be more decisive:

1. Publicly state both the price and a deadline. £X million by midnight on Friday 20th August. Add to this that Kane has three years and if the deadline passes he is definitely not leaving this window - stake his reputation on it. Stop taking any calls after the deadline.
2. Publicly offer Kane a new 5 year deal with a release clause of £Y million, that can only be activated in the month of July each summer for the duration of that contract, that reduces by £30M each year thereafter. This would prevent a similar disruptive summer next year.

Personally I would set X at £160M and Y at £130M as I think they are fair numbers that reflect his value this summer and next.

Like @Moonie I don't think a public announcement by the club would be beneficial. Man City know they are short of our valuation and rapidly running out of time, so the onus is 100% on them to swiftly make a significantly improved offer.

Actions speak louder than words - a press release stating our intentions is far less meaningful than the actual outcome.
If Levy sticks to his guns and Kane is still here at the end of the window, Man City will look bad for failing to sign their no.1 target and Harry/Charlie will look foolish, while we come out positively for not being bullied.
If Kane is sold for a huge transfer fee and we sign a decent replacement, Man City will look stupid for not wrapping up a deal for their no.1 target before the start of the season, while we come out positively for not being bullied.
The only way we come out of this negatively in the press is if Levy compromises. A club announcement would not change this.