Dimitar Berbatov has warned Harry Kane that Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy will not let him leave the club without a fight amid interest in his services from Manchester City.
Kane informed Spurs of his intention to move on before the end of last season and has failed to report for pre-season training in a bid to accelerate his exit, which could rule him out of the start of the season.
Although the 28-year-old believes he has a “gentleman’s agreement” with Levy entitling him to a departure, Spurs have been adamant that their vice-captain is not for sale.
Tottenham have the upper hand in negotiations as Kane still has three years remaining on his contract and Berbatov insists that he will act in the club’s best interests when it comes to sorting out his future.
“Daniel Levy is very tough, trust me!” he told Betfair. “If I was in his position I would be the same. If you are smart enough you can learn a few things when you talk to him.
“If Harry Kane speaks with the chairman he can remember a couple of things that might help him in the future because Levy is really hard at negotiating because he knows what he wants. He knows how to get it and in the end he will get it.
“Sometimes the fans do not approve of his ways of doing things, but because of him and his love of the team they have the best stadium in the whole of Europe, the best training facility that I have ever seen and that’s because of him and the way he wants to grow the team, people will say that’s ‘good but the trophies are not there’.
“He wants the best for the team and he fights hard for that.”
Berbatov endured a similar stand-off with Levy during his time at Spurs in the 2008 summer transfer window when he was subject to interest from Manchester United and Manchester City, fresh from their takeover by the Abu Dhabi United Group.
The Bulgarian eventually joined United in a £30.75m deal on deadline day after failing to start in either of Tottenham’s first two Premier League matches of the 2007-08 campaign due to speculation over his future.
It looks increasingly likely that Kane will be unavailable to face City in Tottenham’s opening game of 2021-22 as he is still in Florida on holiday and will have to quarantine upon his return. However, Berbatov advised Kane not to go on strike to force a move, saying that it would only “add fuel to the fire”.
“I missed two games for Spurs when my transfer to United was happening and looking back, I don’t think it played too much of a role,” he said. “It probably did in the whole scheme of things and it played a small role, but it was more a statement from my side. I didn’t skip training but I didn’t play a game or two, showing my intention that I wanted to leave.
“It was a bad situation and an unfortunate situation and it was tearing me apart inside because I’m not the type of person who wants to do that. When it comes to this moment, you need to be tough, unfortunately, and in business you need to be tough and stand your ground and hopefully the situation will be resolved.
“I will always say the one person that is the most affected when you do this is the player. Physically and also in your head mentally because you start to think about all scenarios and you get mentally exhausted.
“Even though I did it, one of the worst things that can happen for Harry Kane is to boycott some of the games as well, that will be painful to watch and difficult to swallow from the fans and everybody connected with the club, I don’t want to see that happening. There is a chance it could happen. It will put even more fuel on the fire.
“I want it to be resolved before the season starts so that the team and player have time to adjust.”
City are set to clinch the club-record £100m signing of Jack Grealish from Aston Villa and will have to surpass that fee if they are to succeed in their Kane pursuit with Levy reportedly valuing the striker at £150m.
For more from Betfair ambassador Dimitar Berbatov, head to www.betfair.com/berbatov
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3Ai2sYl
Post a Comment