Kane and Conte now need Spurs to match their visions

Spurs seem unlikely to be able to offer Harry Kane Champions League football next season, so which way does the England captain turn next?

It’s that time of the year again. The evenings are getting longer, blossom is beginning to show on the trees, and speculation is starting to mount over the future of the England captain, Harry Kane. Kane’s will-he-won’t-he saga was the transfer story of the summer of 2021, and with the benefit of hindsight it seems pretty clear that this was not the time for him to leave Tottenham Hotspur. Manchester City’s interest in him was hyped in the press (with The Sun famously declaring the deal all-but done), but City themselves opted to spend £100m on Jack Grealish instead, and there was really nobody else who would be remotely likely to bid the vast amount of money required to prise him from Daniel Levy’s grasp.

But that was then, and this is now. City are locked in a title race and might be forgiven for putting thoughts of next season on the back burner, but would they realistically revive interest in a player who is now a year older but not a lot cheaper? Their attention has clearly turned to Erling Braut Haaland, to the extent that this particular transfer is already being discussed as a foregone conclusion. His release clause is £68m and Kane, who’s almost exactly seven years older, would likely cost more. Unless there is a surprising volte face from Haaland, it seems difficult to believe that they would prefer Kane.

This is a problem for Kane, since there aren’t many other options in England that will give him the Champions League football he so clearly craves. Liverpool are currently wrapped up in trying to persuade Mo Salah to sign a contract extension to keep him at Anfield, and