Tottenham caretaker manager Ryan Mason played down Harry Kane’s “farewell” to Spurs fans on Saturday – but once again the club can expect a summer of speculation over his future.
Kane, who is now Tottenham’s all-time top scorer, bagged his 28th Premier League goal of the season on Saturday but saw his side beaten 3-1 by Brentford, meaning they may end missing out on European football next season.
After the final whistle, the Spurs squad walked around the stadium on a lap of honour – as is traditional at the last home game of the season. Kane had gone over on his own to applaud the fans before the wider ovation. For some, it felt like goodbye, not au revoir.
“He waves at the crowd every season,” insisted interim boss and Kane’s former team-mate Mason.
“I remember sitting here two years ago, and you guys were convinced he was leaving, saying the same thing.
“It’s the last home game of the season so he wants to show his appreciation to the support he’s received, and we’ve all received this season.”
What Mason failed to add was that the summer following that press conference two years ago saw a concerted effort by Manchester City to sign the England striker, who also made it known that he wanted to make the move to the North West.
However, Spurs chairman Daniel Levy was not offered what he felt was a fair price for his most prized asset and Kane stayed.
Often, a summer of unsuccessful brokering would see a player rewarded with a new contract, but no such deal was forthcoming and Kane’s current terms expire at the end of next season.
It leaves Levy with a decision to make: cash in on the 29-year-old this summer or get one more year out of him before he leaves for free. The third option, convincing Kane to stay, seems increasingly unlikely.
“If it was me personally in his situation now, I would look at my options,” said Alan Shearer on Match of the Day.
“He’s been so loyal to Tottenham, he’s been so brilliant for Tottenham, I don’t think any Tottenham fan could complain if he said ‘I’ve done my time, I’ve got to look elsewhere’.”
There could hardly have been a clearer indictment of the season than Saturday’s denouement, when players and their families waved for the most part at empty seats, the majority of supporters having left when Yoane Wissa scored Brentford’s third in the 88th minute.
“It is understandable because of how probably the second two-thirds of the season have gone on and off the pitch, but ultimately we know the fans will be there next season,” Mason added.
“This club will keep moving forward and now is the time where we need to be stronger than ever and believe in what we’re going to do, commit to it and have people that are committed to it. And I always say in football things can change very quickly and the energy can change quickly.”
In the meantime, Kane probably drifts further away from a club who cannot even tell him who his line manager is. Mason is just filling in after Antonio Conte and then Cristian Stellini were sacked. Spurs appear to be closing on Feyenoord manager Arne Slot, although officially they refuse to comment. They are now eight weeks without a permanent boss. What is a few more?
Well, every week is another in which the sharks can circle and start to bite off chunks of the carcass, Kane being the tastiest morsel.
Manchester United are favourites to win the race, a move that would see Kane tread a well-worn path from White Hart Lane to Old Trafford: Michael Carrick, Teddy Sheringham and Dimitar Berbatov all did it with success.
That last deal though may prove to be the stumbling block. It’s said that United conducted themselves so poorly over the Berbatov transfer, allegedly intercepting him at the airport as he was on his way to sign for Manchester City, that Levy refused to entertain doing business with them again unless he absolutely had to.
Chelsea are easy to link with Kane too, given their current propensity to buying anyone and everyone who shows an interest. But given his lifelong association with Spurs, he might see it as too much of an affront to the fans who have sung his name as “one of our own” for so long.
With City no longer in need of a line-leading striker, Newcastle might be a tempting offer if it were to materialise, but beyond there, Kane’s desire to challenge for trophies may end up taking him abroad. Real Madrid could see him as a perfect replacement for Karim Benzema while Bayern Munich might think the same about Thomas Muller, beyond whom they lack a true No 9 and have deployed Serge Gnabry, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Sadio Mane out of position there. Both would have obvious appeal.
A familiar banner was raised in the South Stand on Saturday. It read “Levy out, Enic out, profit over glory”. Sadly for the fans holding it, this summer may end up being Kane out, for profit ahead of glory.
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