Manchester City will “consider” a summer strategy for Tottenham talisman Harry Kane this summer if they fail to land the main target Erling Haaland in their quest for a new striker.
Full-time top scorer Sergio Aguero is leaving City when his contract expires in three months, ending his decade-long stay in Manchester and making it even more important to find a new “number nine” in the transfer market ahead of next season.
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City had already decided that a new striker is their top priority this year, even before they put together some kind of offer for worried Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi. Reports from Spain today indicate that City have now accepted Messi will renew with his current club.
Haaland is the player they have identified as the perfect signing in that endeavor and 90 minutes have previously revealed that City consider themselves favorites for the Norwegian prodigy, whose father was at the club in the early 2000s until the injury ended his career prematurely.
City officials have been in contact with the Haaland camp since the child’s early days played in Norway, before a whirlwind rose with Red Bull Salzburg and now Borussia Dortmund.
There has been a feeling among Haaland’s suitors that, despite only joining Dortmund in January 2020, he is already ready to move on and take the next step in his career. Chelsea are very interested while Real Madrid and Manchester United are also keeping an eye on him.
A striker is City’s priority this summer and Haaland is their main goal INA FASSBENDER / Getty Images
But whether he will be able to move on this summer, a year before a release of 75 million euros (64 million euros) becomes active, has fallen into doubt as it is rumored that Dortmund will demand 180 million euros (154 million euros) from someone club that wants to sign the 20-year-old now.
Sticking to a high price was the same tactic that the Bundesliga side used when they tried to stop Manchester United from signing Jadon Sancho last summer and it worked.
If City can not sign Haaland this summer, they are already thinking of alternatives and The Times reports that the English champions would then consider an approach for Kane.
The Spurs star leads the Premier League in both goals (17) and assists (13) this season. And while he is seven years older than Haaland and cannot offer the same long-term investment, Kane is already a proven Premier League goal scorer.
Kane is an alternative target for City this summer Matthew Ashton – AMA / Getty Images
But Kane may not be much cheaper than Haaland as it has already been rumored that Spurs would ask for £ 150 million in hopes of scaring away potential suitors.
Kane’s future at Spurs has come into doubt in recent months amid suggestions that he has become frustrated with the club’s lack of cutlery and reduced future prospects. The chance to win the Premier League has been gone, they are not able to return to the Champions League final soon and were even stunned by Dinamo Zagreb in the Europa League recently.
Kane himself has been amazed at the subject. He has refused to discuss it directly, but has also gone through the question of possibly moving on and has not ruled out anything.
“I think it’s a difficult question to answer right now,” he said last weekend.
Kane has refused to think about his future until after Euro 2020 | Mattia Ozbot / Getty Images
“It is important that all my focus is on the England matches that are coming now and the rest of the season with Spurs and then Euro. Thinking about speculation or rumors would be detrimental to my own performance.
“I always like to be focused on a goal and a job and that is to finish strong with Spurs, win these qualifiers with England and hopefully continue and have fantastic euros. I try to stay away from that speculation as much as possible. I am completely focused on doing the job on the pitch until the end of the summer and then we will see where we go from there. ”
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