Manchester City want Kane and plan talks with Tottenham

Harry Kane

Manchester City want to sign Harry Kane and plan to hold talks over a potential deal for the Tottenham striker. Kane is open to joining City but he and his suitors are aware that negotiations with Daniel Levy will be far from straightforward. Tottenham’s chairman is not inclined to sell Kane, who has told the club he would like to leave and believes he effectively got a verbal agreement from Levy last summer to go at the end of this season. City’s record transfer fee is less than £65mn and they would have to part with more than twice that if Levy consented to a deal for Kane. With Sergio Agüero about to depart, City are determined to secure a player who would strengthen a squad that have won the Premier League and Carabao Cup this season and could add the Champions League this month. They have been in touch with Kane’s representatives. Manchester United’s interest in Kane appears to have waned since Edinson Cavani committed to a further year, but it could be revived. There has been no move yet for the England captain from Chelsea – and Levy would be especially resistant to doing a deal with them. Spurs will try to convince Kane to stay and the appointment of a new manager could be part of that process, but the 27-year-old’s position is clear. He played in front of the club’s fans in the defeat by Aston Villa on Wednesday. Levy has acknowledged in his programme notes that errors have been made in the recent past: “We have been so focused on delivering the stadium and dealing with the impact of the pandemic, that I feel we lost sight of some key priorities and what’s truly in our DNA. “Our work in the community and with the NHS is an example of when we get it right, but we don’t get everything right. It has never been because we don’t care about or respect you, our fans – nothing could be further from the truth.” He said “a successful football team” was paramount and that “everyone’s focus is on a return to regular Champions League participation and competing for honours”. Levy and the club’s ENIC owners have also been criticised for charing £60 (85 dollars) for tickets for the Aston Villa match which they lost 1-2 last night, while some London rivals are charging half that price as all 20 Premier League clubs enjoy one home match with doors reopened this week. Tottenham’s state-of-the-art stadium, opened in 2019, came at a cost of £1.2bn. The coronavirus pandemic has not just seen their revenues hit from matchday income, but also plans to stage NFL games, concerts and other sporting events at the 62,000 capacity ground. Levy has a number of big decisions to make come the end of the season with Spurs looking for a new manager to replace Jose Mourinho. The decision to sack Mauricio Pochettino and replace the Argentine with Mourinho has been severely criticised with the Portuguese’s defensive style of play at odds with Tottenham’s history of playing attractive football.