‘Don’t think he was strong enough’ – Ex-Spurs man on why Kane stayed

Gary Lineker has claimed that Harry Kane’s move to Manchester City fell through because the striker was not ready to burn his bridges at Tottenham.

Kane was linked heavily with a move to the Etihad all summer and the situation looked a complete mess at the start of last month, with the striker not reporting back to pre-season training in time in an alleged effort to push through the transfer.

However, the move did not materialise, with Pep Guardiola admitting that City did everything they could to sign the England captain but Daniel Levy simply refused to negotiate.

It remains to be seen whether the speculation over Kane’s future emerges once more when the transfer window reopens in January but Football.London’s Alasdair Gold said this week that he would be surprised if talks do not soon open over a potential new contract.

Lineker has now suggested that Kane might spend the rest of his career in North London after failing to get a move to City this summer.

The former Spurs striker told Sky Sports: “I haven’t got a crystal ball but it did seem like this summer or never.

“Who knows what will happen? Who knows what did happen behind closed doors?

“But we know Harry’s a great professional, he loves Tottenham and he will give everything because he’s a good pro and he will continue to score goals wherever that may be.

“Circumstances can change, who knows, in a years’ time he might be somewhere else.

“I know what it’s like and how difficult it is to leave the club you supported as a kid, I grew up in Leicester when I started playing football then I played for the club and it was hard to leave.

“I actually saw my contract out deliberately as I felt there was a stage where I might need to move on and I didn’t want to walk out on a contract with Leicester so I let it run out, then I went to Everton.

“I just felt I needed to progress my career and I think Harry was going through that but I just don’t think he was strong enough in his conviction against Tottenham to do that, but who knows in the future.”

Spurs Web Opinion

I think it is fairly evident that Kane could have put Levy in a difficult position by doing a Mahrez and simply refusing to train.

Reading between the lines of Guardiola’s words, it seems like City certainly expected the 28-year-old to push harder to leave.

However, Levy probably knew that Kane is not the type of character to behave unprofessionally, which is why he was able to take a tough stance with City.

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