Manchester City reportedly tried to play ‘silly games’ with Daniel Levy over Harry Kane two years ago.
That is the claim from journalist Martin Lipton, speaking on the Off The Ball podcast.
The topic of conversation was about Ange Postecoglu, who has just become the new manager of Tottenham Hotspur.
At one point talk turns to Kane’s future.
The England captain now has just one year left on his contract, and there has again been speculation about him leaving the club.
It would be some story if he did, with Kane being Spurs’ best player and Levy being as tough a negotiator as he is.
Kane famously almost left Spurs two years ago, when Manchester City came calling. Pep Guardiola has always been a fan, and even earlier this year branded him ‘an exceptional player’ and said he was ‘one of the best strikers I have ever seen in my life’ (Independent).
The striker actually went on strike briefly in order to force through a move. But a deal never materialised and Kane stayed put.
Speaking about the reasons the move didn’t happen, Lipton said: “If he could, he would stay. Two years ago, when City came calling, I always said it wasn’t so much he wanted to leave. It was that he felt he couldn’t stay. City messed it around and messed up a pretty easy transfer when it was simply: put the money on the table, you get the player.
“They didn’t do that, they tried to play silly games with Daniel Levy who decided ‘right that’s it I’m not going to sell’. He had more cards in his hands then with the player having three years on his contract.”
Harry Kane must rue that his proposed transfer to Manchester City didn’t materialise
Some City fans were left frustrated following the failure to sign Kane in 2021.
While the team had still been scoring plenty of goals without a striker, there was a feeling that it was time to land a proper centre-forward.
Ultimately, City did not put the necessary money on the table, and seemingly banked on Kane putting pressure on Levy (through his striking) to sell him at a reduced price.
That did not happen, and Kane ended up staying.
And the 29-year-old must rue that he didn’t get a move to the Etihad.
City ended up signing Erling Haaland last summer, who has scored an incredible amount of goals already. That could easily have been Kane, who must at his point be longing to play in team that genuinely competes for trophies.
