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Kane & Spurs: Why Man Utd, Man City talk will only ramp up after Wembley

COMMENT: Harry Kane and Daniel Levy. This is fantasy calcio stuff. It's unrealistic. Even ridiculous. And no, we're not talking about the price-tag Tottenham's chairman has slapped on the England captain...

Yes, £150m is huge money. Crazy. And in a deflated market, you can understand Levy using such a valuation to price the club's most valuable asset out of reach. But these fees aren't set in stone. They never are. And if Kane wants out of Spurs, there'll be little Levy can do but enter negotiations over a more realistic price.

But that's a couple of steps down the line. What is genuinely unrealistic is the idea that Kane will be content with success as England captain. That what he's experienced this past month will be enough to satiate the centre-forward's desire for "team trophies".

No matter what happens on Sunday night, this won't be enough for Kane. It wouldn't be enough for any player of his age and his status in the game. Winning trophies doesn't placate the ambitious - it only increases the desire for more. If Kane does end Sunday evening lifting the Euros trophy in front of his own fans at Wembley, at 27 years of age, it'll be a high he will be chasing again and again for the remainder of his career.

And after reaching the summit, it really is the stuff of fantasy calcio that Levy and his fellow Spurs directors could actually believe that Kane would be willing to accept what he left at Spurs in May.

Another new manager. Another rebuild. Another previous trophyless campaign. A cliquey dressing room incapable of breaking the top four - yet certainly with the ability to conspire to get rid of another manager. After the highs of a united England and a potential winning Euros campaign, it's absolutely ridiculous to claim the captain of the country will wilfully accept what awaits him back at Spurs Lodge.

The run to the final four of the World Cup was similar. But Kane was different. He was 24 going on 25, not 27 and about to turn 28 this month. Three years ago, he could afford to buy into Levy's plans. There was time. And critically, he had not heard it all before.

But today? Well, that career window is closing ever faster. And since Brazil, Kane has seen Mauricio Pochettino and Jose Mourinho maneuvered out of the club and the teams they were building, dismantled in the process. This isn't the stage that befits a winning England captain.

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Another one - Kane with his man-of-the-match trophy after England's semifinal victory over Denmark


So it'll start again. No matter the result at the end of his clash with Chiellini and co., Kane will push to leave. To be fair, when this column mapped out how things would run at the end of last season, even the aggression of Kane in his stand took us by surprise.

Those words haven't gone away. They certainly haven't been corrected nor updated. Kane left them there. His talk about wanting to "win team trophies". That all the Player of the Year awards and Golden Boots he's collected in his career has only left him with an increasing hunger to win the big trophies in the game.

He was even at it on Friday, knowing that scoring just the once on Sunday will be enough to win a Euros Golden Boot to go with the World Cup title he achieved three years ago.

"Golden Boots are a bonus and if I end up getting that it means I've scored one or two goals in the final, which gives our team a great chance of winning the whole thing," said Kane. "That is the ultimate aim."

He fired a shot across the bow in May. And the silence coming from the club will only have steeled Kane's resolve. He hasn't heard from Levy since the end of last season. He wasn't consulted about the appointment of Nuno. And as such, there's certainly been no update on Spurs' plans for the summer market.

But in that same period, he's watched as England teammate Jadon Sancho was signed by Manchester United. The winger's move from Borussia Dortmund to be rubberstamped once he passes his medical after Sunday's final.

And United will be in for Kane. As will Manchester City - and potentially Paris Saint Germain, if they're forced to sell Kylian Mbappe as his contract winds down. Sources in Paris stating what we're being told from United's end. That Kane is more than an on-field presence. That as England captain - and a potential winning England captain - his global appeal can carry on the marketing momentum PSG have enjoyed in recent years. All he needs is the right platform. And the Parisians, like the marketing execs at United, are convinced they can help Kane fulfill his retail potential off the pitch.

On it, of course PSG can offer trophies. As can Pep Guardiola and City. United? Well, there's no guarantee there. But there is ambition and a commitment to finding a way back to the Sir Alex Ferguson era. And as mentioned, unlike City, United can offer Kane and his support team opportunities beyond anything they planned when first putting together their 'HK' project. The global appeal of England's captain not only running around in a United shirt, but actually leading the line and scoring goals regularly... it's something even those inside United's board room wouldn't dare predict the earning potential of. And if he's doing so as a Premier and Champions League title winner... as a marketing man, you're simply in unchartered waters.

So all that potential. All those opportunities. After the highs of a run to the final of Euro 2020. Is Levy - or anyone at Spurs - realistically arguing that Kane leave it all on the table and stick with what he's seen these past three years?

This is fantasy calcio stuff. It's unrealistic - even ridiculous - to suggest Harry Kane will be content to go around again with the same old Spurs next season.

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Chris Beattie
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Chris Beattie

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