Athletic: Spurs, Bayern continue game of Kane chicken

Harry Kane is leaving Spurs. Except he’s not. Or maybe he is?

The latest from Charlie Eccleshare at The Athletic paints an interesting picture of a transfer where no party is quite sure where the others stand, and every man has their own agenda and set of priorities:

The interesting tidbit here is that reportedly Daniel Levy and the rest of the Spurs hierarchy do NOT want Harry Kane leaving on a free, and so are prepared to sell - but not without extracting their pound of flesh first. We’ve talked at length on this site about how if Harry Kane is unwilling to sign a new contract (which all signs point towards being the case), selling the England captain is the fiscally responsible thing to do; however, there is no denying the emotion involved in selling ONE OF OUR OWN, and Levy will want the optics to reflect that Tottenham did everything possible to keep Kane.

The club that has been leading the race (chalk off another transfer window cliche) up until this point is Bayern Munich, who have reportedly verbally agreed personal terms with Kane and who have frustratingly gone about a chunk of their negotiations via the media. In recent days though, reporting has begun to eke out that a new challenger for Kane’s signing is on the horizon, with PSG entering the running. This makes a lot of sense due to the situation with Kylian Mbappe’s uncertain status at the French club leaving a potential hole in their forward line. Say it with me folks: BIDDING WAR!

This is exactly the kind of scenario Daniel Levy lives for - multiple clubs competing for a prized asset. The kicker, though, is that it appears Kane is not especially keen on the French capital. Say what you want about the manner in which Bayern often run the Bundesliga, the French league is even less competitive and in Kane’s eyes it might appear the German champions are closer to competing for prestigious trophies such as the Champions League after some of the hilarious ways in which PSG have been dumped out of the competition in recent years.

So far, we have 2 clubs competing for Kane’s transfer: one of which Kane actually likes, but the other more likely to have the finances to pay Spurs. What else is there to take into account? Well, Kane is also aware that if he leaves on a free his options could open up even further, with Eccleshare linking Barcelona to trying to secure the Kane’s signature, which... let’s be honest, there’s no way they have the money to pay his wages at the moment, unless they somehow discovered Palanka #127 while scrabbing between the couch cushions for some spare change. There’s also the scenario which hardly bears thinking about (but is certainly playing on our minds), where Harry Kane decides his best chance at the Premier League goalscoring record and a successful legacy is to go to a direct league rival of Tottenham at the conclusion of the 23/24 season.

So what happens next? The Athletic described it as a game of poker, but it almost feels like a big multiway game of chicken at this point. Bayern Munich need to seriously up their offer if Levy is to even think about accepting a transfer, but the Germans have gone reasonably quiet (outside of their media overtures in recent days). It’s possible PSG come in with a big bid - after which Levy could then indicate to Kane that he can go, but not to his preferred destination. Kane might then respond by opting to stay for the season and leaving on a Bosman to a club he prefers even more than Bayern Munich - OR this could persuade Bayern Munich to increase their offer further.

Who blinks first? Silly season is FUN.