Tottenham’s last home game of the 2016/17 season was truly memorable.
It was the last game in their old White Hart Lane home and legends about the club were present when Spurs met Manchester United.
Tottenham’s last match at White Hart Lane was an exciting opportunity / Richard Heathcote / Getty Images
They won that match 2-1 thanks to goals from Victor Wanyama and Harry Kane, and the players were happily bullied on the full-time whistle as fans streamed onto the pitch before the final farewell ceremony began.
At that moment, it seemed impossible for any player in that squad to ever face the fans’ anger and rage in the future. But exactly that has happened in recent months, due to some rather shameful publicity efforts from a star striker and his agent.
Kanes “will he stay or will he go?” the transfer history has been rumbling all summer and with barely two weeks left to the window, there is no sign of stopping. In fact, most of us would like it to end. Not because we can not take on the stress or excitement of watching the club’s talisman leave, but because it’s downright boring.
The constant re-reporting of the smallest details that have been reshaped as major developments has become incredibly tedious. Not a day goes by without Manchester City, Kane’s wanted club, apparently ‘preparing a bid’, ‘preparing their next move’ or ‘believing a deal will eventually be made’.
The window may well end with Kane getting his wish and Tottenham getting a thick salary, but that does not distract from the PR shake that his entourage has managed to bring in the England captain.
Kane and his brother could have played this whole situation much better.
In the backend last season, there were protests at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The scenes at the end of the 2-1 defeat against Aston Villa in their last home game of the campaign were ugly. Fans had never felt so isolated from the club, and there would have been some backlash from supporters if Kane had been open and released some form of statement revealing his desire to leave. Questioning the ambition of chairman Daniel Levy and the club at the time would have been met with a “well … yes, you’re right, fair” response from fans who had undergone an embarrassing Jose Mourinho spell and seen their team finish seventh and lose one cup final, but also witnessed Kane deliver his best individual season to date.
Kane at the end of Tottenham’s defeat to Aston Villa last season / Richard Heathcote / Getty Images
It’s an open goal that no player who scratches in a move should ever miss, and yet the ball seems to have bubbled in front of Kane, which resulted in him ballooning it out of the stadium and looking back at the grass that is usually so robust when he’s on way to pull the shutter button.
Alas, they went another way, but now there are contradictions everywhere.
Kane did not return to training on time and Spurs were said to be furious at the situation, to the extent that they were preparing fines for their striker. The 28-year-old then released his own statement, claiming that he had not refused to train and would return at a previously set date. He added that he “would not do anything to jeopardize the relationship I have with the fans”. The fact that there seems to have been a breakdown in communication there shows that there has not been enough clarity from one side to the other.
One problem is that he chatted with Gary Neville a few months in advance and seemed to name his price for a potential exit. The relationship with followers is jeopardized, well and truly.
Now a story has appeared in the Telegraph that reiterates Kane’s desire to leave north London and revokes this’ gentleman ‘agreement’ he is said to have with Levy.
Kane reached the Euro 2020 final with England / FRANK AUGSTEIN / Getty Images
It’s good and good, except that most Spurs fans have seen the article for what it is: more tried and tested PR spins from the Kane camp. And if that’s the game they want to play, then so be it! It’s Kane’s career and he has every right to play it in whatever way he sees fit. It may be the biggest chance he has to leave Tottenham and start knocking out the trophies he wants for his locker.
But he should know what kind of personality he has to do with Levy. This is a chairman who persevered to get maximum value from players like Dimitar Berbatov, Luka Modric and Gareth Bale, so why would it be any different with Kane, arguably the club’s best player ever?
Tottenham seem to have made themselves look like the villains, with spectators often guessing that Kane would be sold “for the best of his career”.
But he is halfway through a six-year contract without a release clause, and Levy is clearly not in the mood to strengthen a rival club that has so much money that it could afford to buy Kane ten times at a asking price of £ 150 million. Their squad for the defeat at Tottenham was worth around 900 million pounds. The investment made in City is clear to see, and with Jack Grealish signing £ 100m, Levy has no reason to accept anything less than his own asking price.
It really is a confusing situation and one that has been handled poorly by Kane’s team. The leaked story to the sun a few weeks ago did not wash well with Spurs fans, and this latest digging of the club’s top officials – even if they are not very popular right now – will not do so either.
Kane may well get his summer move in the end, but if he does, he will not be seen as a brilliant golden or golden boy in an England squad that charmed so many during their Euro 2020 run. He will be another toy for Pep Guardiola and City to play with until they get bored and decide they want Erling Haaland.
However you see the situation, one side is clearly in the front seat, and it’s not Kane and his brother.
For more from Jude Summerfield, follow him on Twitter!
