Dimitar Berbatov believes that Harry Kane has no reason to make a move from Tottenham to Manchester United as he did back in 2008.
It was reported a couple of months ago that United were set to prioritise a move for Kane this summer (The Athletic). However, the picture seems to have completely shifted after Tottenham managed to qualify for the Champions League.
According to reports, the England captain is excited to see what the future holds under Antonio Conte and is even open to starting talks with Spurs regarding a potential new contract (The Evening Standard).
Berbatov is confident that the 28-year-old is not going to leave the North London club this summer.
The former Spurs striker told Betfair (as relayed by Football.London): “Of course, there are going to be questions around Harry Kane’s future following last summer’s saga.
“Erling Haaland has gone to Manchester City, so will Kane go to Man United? They aren’t playing Champions League football, so I don’t see the point of the move for Kane.
“He will want to play Champions League football. Where else would he go? Outside of England? I don’t think so. My guess is, that there will be rumours flying around, and some interest from clubs, but he will stay at Spurs.”
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Berbatov admitted that he was thrilled to see the Lilywhites get back into the Champions League and is hopeful Conte will be the man to break the club’s trophy drought.
He said: “I was so pleased to see Spurs qualify for the Champions League. I hope they can take the next step under Antonio Conte, keep improving and ultimately win a trophy.
“He is instilling discipline, tactical awareness and control in the team. For the moment, he is the guy to take Spurs forward.
“On paper, Spurs have a way better squad now than they had when I was there and we won the League Cup in 2008, but they are yet to win anything since then.
“They had a great opportunity in the Champions League final in 2019, but they didn’t win it. I hope that with Conte, a serial winner, they will get another trophy sooner rather than later.
“The Champions League will not be a distraction for them next season. As a player, you think: ‘I am playing in the Champions League, I am going to be playing against the best players and best teams.’
“That gives you the lift you need to produce even more quality. It gives you more adrenalin to play football. They will be playing a lot of games but as a player you want that. You’re doing what you love, it doesn’t get better than that.”
The 41-year-old also insisted that Son Heung-min was unlucky not to be nominated for the PFA Player of the Year Award after winning the Premier League Golden Boot.
The former Spurs man admitted he is glad to see the South Korean finally getting the recognition he deserves and compared the 29-year-old’s understanding with Kane to the one he had with Robbie Keane during his time in North London.
The pundit added: “Son has been even better than Kane this season. Sometimes we overlook the player next to the star, but Son has produced unbelievable moments and goals.
“We need to give Son credit too for what he is doing. I’m so happy that he is stepping out of Kane’s shadow. He has to be in the team of the season.
“I always go back to me and Robbie Keane when we were at Spurs – that was a great partnership – and now I’m so happy that they have Kane and Son.
“You can see there is no selfishness there, they both play for the team and spur each other on to greater achievements.
“For a great partnership to work, selfishness can’t be in the equation, you have to be selfless when you play with a partner upfront. You need to give him the ball when he is in a better position, there can be no jealousy and you want him to do well.
“He will return the favour and make you look good. This is what we are seeing now at Spurs with Kane and Son, just like was with me and Keano.”
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Berbatov and Keane may not have got anywhere close to the Son and Kane partnership in terms of numbers, given that they only played together for a couple of seasons, but their understanding was just as telepathic.
The unique thing about the Berbatov-Keane partnership was that both players would interchange their roles between coming short and making runs in behind, which made it impossible for opposition defenders to deal with the pair.
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