Real Madrid will hold a press conference this week to pay tribute to the departing Karim Benzema after 14 years of service, 353 goals and 25 winners’ medals including five from the Champions League.
After all the hugs have been had and the tears have been shed, Real’s attention will quickly shift to sourcing Benzema’s replacement with Harry Kane at the top of Florentino Perez’s summer wishlist.
This was always going to be a transformative summer for the Spanish club, even before Benzema’s intention to move elsewhere – amid dizzying offers from the Saudi Pro League – was made public.
Real will end this season without a La Liga or Champions League title to their name, which by their impeccable standards constitutes an abject failure. The Copa del Rey alone doesn’t cut it.
Kane has been linked with a move to Madrid in the past, but never before has Real’s need for him been so urgent. It is unsurprising, therefore, that the charm offensive has already started in earnest.
“I can talk about my future, I won’t talk about the future of the squad, which is underway,” said Carlo Ancelotti on Saturday, alluding to the imminent departures of Marco Asensio and Eden Hazard along with Benzema.
“I’ve said many times, Harry Kane is a great player. He’s a Tottenham player. We have to respect the player, and Tottenham too.”
Which roughly translated reads as: “Harry Kane is a great player. We want to buy him. But we don’t want to p*** off Daniel Levy.”
Real have twice before raided Spurs for their best players, doing so in back-to-back summers in 2012 and 2013 by signing Luka Modric and Gareth Bale. Considering the success that the two had – and in Modric’s case continues to have – at Santiago Bernabeu, it’s no surprise that they are keen on completing the hat-trick.
Doing so is unlikely to be straightforward, however. Levy will be reticent to let Spurs’ best player leave at a time when his unpopularity with supporters is at an all-time high; it would be an admission that he has ultimately failed to provide a suitable platform for Kane to satiate his career ambitions at his hometown club.
Levy also held firm two years ago when Manchester City made a play for Kane in the pre-Erling Haaland era, despite the England captain’s desire to head north. His position is weaker now with Kane only having 12 months remaining on his contract, but Levy may judge that potentially losing him for free next summer rather than for £100m or so this is a gamble worth taking if he can somehow persuade him to extend his deal next season.
Another potential stumbling block for Real is Kane’s apparent desire to remain in England, rather than head abroad as he hunts down Alan Shearer’s all-time Premier League goal record. Kane is 48 strikes away from surpassing Shearer’s peerless total of 260 and could probably manage it by the end of the 2024-25 season if he steers clear of injury.
Moving to another club in England, realistically Manchester United, would also mean significantly less upheaval for Kane and his family. The 29-year-old has three young children and a fourth is on the way with his wife Kate pregnant.
However, if Kane’s priority is to win football’s biggest prizes there is no competition. Real Madrid are already in a position to challenge for La Liga and the Champions League; United’s ceiling, for the time being, is domestic cups. Kane needs to win now and Real Madrid are in a better position to do just that.
This might be a summer of change at the Bernabeu, but with Jude Bellingham set to join from Borussia Dortmund it is a hugely exciting rebuild that can succeed instantly. United are at least half a team away from competing with Manchester City.
Kane’s legacy at Spurs is already assured: as of February, he is indisputably the club’s all-time top goalscorer and based on the last few seasons if not longer, he is arguably the club’s greatest player of all-time. There is a mural of him on Whitehall Street, a stone’s throw away from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium where a permanent statue could well follow.
The vast majority of Spurs fans would not begrudge Kane a move elsewhere, even if he were to join a Premier League rival in Manchester United – it would be a different story entirely if he linked up with Mauricio Pochettino at Chelsea or even worse, followed the Sol Campbell trajectory across the north London divide.
But even so, a move abroad would signify a cleaner break and a potential route back to Spurs once success has been achieved. Kane has frequently spoken of his desire to play at the top level well into his 30s and given he is not overly reliant on physical attributes, that seems a realistic prospect.
Maybe he can follow Teddy Sheringham’s lead, by moving on and winning trophies before returning to N17 to close out his career at the top, reputation intact. That would still give him time to complete the goalscoring record set by adding the Premier League one to his club and country achievements.
That goal can wait for now. It is time to win. And if his options are Real Madrid or Manchester United, it is a straightforward choice.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/pDnTeF3
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