Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy loves a deadline day deal. There are few protagonists in football more adept at the brinkmanship created by the final hours of a transfer window, often able to extract maximum value from a departing player or grab a last-minute bargain to boost the squad.
Some of Levy’s moves occupy a place in football folklore: the 2008 exit of Dimitar Berbatov to Manchester United for £30.75 million, the £8m steal of Rafael van der Vaart from Real Madrid in 2010, the then-world record £86.3m fee Madrid paid to sign Gareth Bale in 2013.
A decade has almost passed since Bale traded north London for the Spanish capital; a tiresome transfer saga which concluded on Sept. 1’s deadline day after acrimony between the clubs and the Welshman repeatedly trying to force through a move he feared was doomed to collapse. Levy enhanced his reputation as a fearsome negotiator and improved the financial package on offer with the delay, but any repeat approach with star striker Harry Kane this summer would be a mistake.
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With a contract that expires in 2024, Kane will discuss his future with the club at the end of the season. At the moment, sources have told ESPN that Spurs do not want to let their all-time record goal scorer leave, but there is no suggestion yet that the 29-year-old will sign an extension and the club’s hand may be forced.
Sitting nine points behind fourth-placed Manchester United (who have two games in hand), Champions League qualification is all but beyond them and another season of transition next year appears inevitable. There is currently no permanent head coach after the sacking of Antonio Conte, no director of football (after Fabio Paratici resigned when his 30-month ban from his time at Juventus was extended worldwide by FIFA), and the squad is badly in need of upgrades both in defence and midfield.
An early decision over Kane, communicated efficiently and decisively, is essential for all parties to move forward. If Tottenham refuse to let him go, they should issue a statement to that effect and confirm on the record that they will force him to honour the final 12 months of the six-year, £200,000-a-week deal he signed in 2018. But if Kane states his desire to leave and Spurs opt to grant his exit, they must not allow the situation to drag on all summer.
While he is reportedly keen to stay in England, Spurs would no doubt prefer to let him join an overseas club to help distance them from the damage, just as was the case with Bale and Luka Modric (who moved to Real Madrid in 2012 for around £30m.) Yet Tottenham must also acknowledge the diminishing effect on Kane’s transfer valuation given they will only have a one-year insurance policy against losing him for nothing in summer 2024.
Levy was the first Premier League chairman to talk openly about the damaging financial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the club estimate a £200m loss of income as a result. Spurs were one of the hardest hit given they had just opened a £1 billion stadium designed to transform their revenue through large-scale multi-sport and music events a year before mass gatherings were restricted across the world.
Last summer, Tottenham owners ENIC invested £150m by way of a capital increase to fund their transfer plans, a short-term move taken in response to pressure from former head coach Conte to show greater ambition in the market. With that cash they signed forward Richarlison (£60m), centre-back Cristian Romero (£50m), midfielder Yves Bissouma (£25m) and right-back Djed Spence (£19m.)
The club’s last year-end accounts to June 30, 2022 showed a loss of £50.1m. Tottenham are not under imminent pressure to move Kane on to balance the books, but the decision whether to potentially allow a player whose transfer could fetch £100m to leave for free in 2024, for the sake of retaining him for another 12 months, needs serious financial consideration.
