Alan Shearer has claimed that it is now or never for Harry Kane if the striker wishes to leave Spurs in order to give himself the best chance of winning trophies.
Tottenham fans are likely exhausted by the constant rumours surrounding Harry Kane’s future, with reports continuing to suggest that this might be the striker’s last year at the North London club.
However, it is clear that signing the England captain would prove extremely difficult for any club this summer given the bumper asking price Daniel Levy is reportedly set to demand.
Some pundits have urged Kane to leave Spurs this summer over recent weeks and while Shearer refused to tell the Tottenham star what to do, the former Newcastle man insisted that this summer could be his final chance of making a big move.
Shearer wrote in his column for The Athletic: “I’ve got way too much respect for Harry as a player and a man to offer him advice on a decision that I know for myself is rarely linear and that may not, in the end, be his to make. What I would say, though, is this: if he’s going to leave, it looks like this summer or not at all.
“Harry is 28 in three months and this is why I think we’re approaching a pivotal moment. He’s at his peak, the ready-made article, an absolute guarantee of goals wherever he plays and the opposite of a gamble, but a buying club is going to want three or four of his best years in return for what would certainly be an exorbitant transfer fee. This is that time. Twelve months down the line and it becomes that bit more difficult to justify.
“The one indisputable fact is that Harry is under contract at Tottenham for three more years. That six-year deal he signed in June 2018 was a fantastic piece of business by Daniel Levy and his club.
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“It tied down their most saleable asset and it gives them a thick layer of protection now. I’m not convinced it was quite so great for Harry, even though the landscape at Spurs was much more positive back then.
“The point is that Harry could no longer say the same things about winning the Premier League [as he did in 2018]. Would the picture change at Spurs if Mourinho went? Maybe.
“As Leicester City and West Ham show, a place in the top four is open to clubs that get things right, but in terms of more than that? Spurs look a long way off. And so that leads back to the same question: is it enough?”
Shearer insisted that Kane is already a great player regardless of whether he wins silverware but believes that the Tottenham star would be seriously considering his future at the moment.
He added: “When I moved to Newcastle for a world-record fee in 1996, I did so with the aim of winning trophies. That was the driver for me, as well as the pull of coming home,” he continued.
“It didn’t work out like that, of course, but for most of my decade at St James’ Park and with lots of ups and downs on the way, we were trying. Harry is a big player; he won’t accept staying at Spurs for the sake of it. He has to have something to buy into. Right now, winning means leaving.
“None of that means Harry should leave; to repeat, that’s not something I would ever say, but if we judge him on his words from two or three years ago, then it’s certainly a subject he will be considering now.
“If it ends with no trophies, does that mean hell have had a s*** career? No, of course not. All that said, the great players do not settle. They always want more and they push for it. And Harry is a great player, which is why it feels like he and Spurs are approaching a moment of definition.”
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I am not so sure why so many pundits seem so convinced that this summer might be Kane’s final chance of leaving. The fact is that he still has three years to run on his deal and so Levy is likely to demand a huge fee.
If Kane were to decide not to sign a new contract with Spurs, his value will come down considerably in the summer of 2022 as it would be the last summer Spurs can get big-money for him in the transfer market.
So, even if Kane has made up his mind to leave Spurs, I believe he is more likely to do so next summer than this one. Even though he will be 29, clubs could still potentially get 3 or 4 good years from him and one or two might be willing to pay £100m, while Tottenham’s asking price could be around the £175m mark this summer.
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