Tottenham striker would be perfect for Erik ten Hag’s side.
The England captain is reportedly closing in on a move to the German champions – while the Red Devils continue to stand still in their striker hunt
After 14 years of loyal service to Tottenham, it looks like Harry Kane will finally be moving onto pastures new this summer.
Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain are among those to have registered interest in the 29-year-old, but Bayern Munich are currently leading the race for his signature.
It has been reported that the Bundesliga champions have reached an agreement in principle with Kane’s representatives, after seeing an opening £60m ($77m) bid for the forward rejected by Spurs.
Bayern are set to return with an improved offer, and Tottenham may have little choice but to cash in, or else risk losing Kane for free when his contract expires next summer.
For a long time, it seemed as though Manchester United would be Kane’s landing spot if he left Tottenham.
Erik ten Hag has made it clear he is desperate to bring in a new No.9, having seen his side struggle for goals throughout the 2022-23 campaign.
Daniel Levy’s reluctance to sell to a direct rival is no secret, which is why the Spurs chairman reportedly demanded over £100m ($127m) for Kane after United made initial enquiries over his availability earlier this year. And the Red Devils are simply not willing to spend that much.
United haven’t been shy when it comes to shelling out huge fees in the recent past, with the likes of Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku, Harry Maguire, Jadon Sancho and Antony all brought in for fees exceeding £70m ($88m).
But they won’t make the same level of investment in Kane – arguably the greatest striker in the history of English football.
Bayern are in the clear to complete a huge coup, and if they do seal a deal for the Tottenham striker, they’ll be genuine Champions League contenders next season. United, meanwhile, are making a huge mistake by standing back and letting it happen.
Still at his peakOne of the reasons United have reportedly baulked at Levy’s valuation of Kane is because of his age, with the Spurs marksman set to celebrate his 30th birthday later in July.
But he hasn’t shown any sign of slowing down on the pitch.In fact, the 2022-23 campaign was probably his best yet in a Tottenham shirt, despite the fact he was leading the line for a disjointed team lacking quality in all other areas of the pitch.
Kane reached the 30-goal mark in the Premier League for the second time in his career, and only finished six goals behind Manchester City’s scoring machine Erling Haaland in the Golden Boot race.
Haaland also won the PFA Player of the Year ahead of Kane, but the Norwegian couldn’t really fail in Pep Guardiola’s set-up.
City stormed to the treble last season, and while Haaland deserves great credit for his finishing, he had world-class providers such as Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Jack Grealish putting chances on a plate for him.
Kane, meanwhile, carried Spurs with his outstanding individual performances.
They ended up in eighth place purely because of his superhuman efforts – and it’s not a stretch to say they would have edged towards the relegation zone without him.There are plenty of great players that have been able to prolong their careers at the highest level well into their thirties in the modern era.
In Kane’s position, the man he could soon replace at Bayern, Robert Lewandowski, won the Pichichi award for the top scorer in La Liga last season as he fired Barcelona to the title in his first season at the club.
The 35-year-old Karim Benzema only finished with four goals fewer than Lewandowski (19) in his final season at Real Madrid, having landed his maiden Ballon d’Or in December on the back of his 44-goal haul the previous campaign.
Both players have looked after themselves physically and showed the discipline necessary to ensure longevity. And so has Kane.
The England international could quite easily make the starting line up for any top club in the world over the next four to five years. United’s caution when it comes to Kane, then, makes absolutely no sense.
There might be cheaper options out there to fill a centre-forward berth, but there is no one better.
Getty/GOALPremier League king”If Harry wants to join Bayern, I’ll drive his f*cking car there myself; anything to protect my Premier League goalscoring record,” Alan Shearer said in a recent article for The Athletic.
Kane currently has 213 Premier League goals to his name, which puts him just 47 behind the former Newcastle and Blackburn forward’s all-time record mark.
If he were to stay at Spurs, Kane would undoubtedly go on to break Shearer’s mark.But if Kane went to United, he could potentially smash it.
Ten Hag’s squad is in far better shape than Tottenham’s after a positive maiden year at Old Trafford for the Dutch coach.
The Red Devils lifted the Carabao Cup and came third in the Premier League to qualify for the Champions League, before suffering defeat to City in the FA Cup final.
Players such as Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes and Luke Shaw all stepped up their game, while new signings Casemiro and Lisandro Martinez added a new dimension to the team.
Ten Hag could ideally do with a new goalkeeper to replace the declining David de Gea, but their top priority must be to sign a top-quality centre-forward.
If United could prise Kane away from Spurs, they’d be guaranteed title contenders in 2023-24. Kane would be the definition of a transformative signing.
He’s not just Premier League proven – he’s the king of the competition.So often last season, United’s final ball failed to match their slick, incisive build-up play, and that’s because they had no one getting into the right positions.
They also were also the most wasteful side in the league, missing 50 big chances in total.
If they swallowed their pride and forked out on Kane, those issues would be solved. Not least because the England captain is motivated to go past Shearer.“For sure it’s something I want to do.
I think whenever you get close to these types of records, all it does is drive you, to try and achieve them,” Kane told Sky Sports in May. “In a couple of years we will see where I am at and how close I am but now I am this close to it, for sure it is something I would love to achieve.”
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