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Tottenham Hotspur striker and Manchester United target Harry Kane is prepared to see out the length of his contract with his current employers and leave Tottenham as a free agent.
Kane’s current terms expire in the summer of 2024.
The England captain’s decision comes amidst heavy transfer interest in his services from United. The Red Devils’ need for a world-class goalscorer is a well-known fact and Erik ten Hag will dip into the market when the transfer window opens to plug this hole in the team.
Kane is reportedly Ten Hag’s number one target, with the Dutchman a huge admirer of the Tottenham talisman.
Ahead of United’s match on Thursday at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Ten Hag was quizzed by reporters about the prospect of adding Kane to his ranks ahead of next season.
The United boss refused to be dragged into revealing his actual plans. He instead cleverly dodged the question by listing the qualities that render Kane one of the deadliest strikers in the world.
United fans were treated to just what Kane can do as the two sides played out a 2-2 draw on Thursday. The 20-time English champions went into the break two goals up courtesy of goals from Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford.
However, Tottenham steadily grew into the game and restored parity with 10 minutes to go until stoppage time. Kane was crucial to ensuring his team got a share of the points. It was his superb assist to tee up Son Heung-min that levelled proceedings.
As the game went on, Kane was serenaded by United fans who were chanting, “Harry Kane, we’ll see you in June.”
Manchester United fans singing “We’ll see you in June” to Harry Kane 👀
(via: @sanchoSZN) pic.twitter.com/l39w0QEHeJ
— centredevils. (@centredevils) April 27, 2023
After the game, the 29-year-old acknowledged the chants and refused to definitively rule out a switch to Old Trafford. He said, “I heard what they were saying [the United fans] but I’m just focused on this team and trying to finish strongly.”
Harry Kane when asked about Man Utd fans chanting ‘We’ll see you in June’ ⚪️ #THFC #MUFC
“I heard what they were saying but I’m just focussed on this team — and trying to finish strongly”, @johncrossmirror reports. pic.twitter.com/fSA9bVGeZ1
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) April 28, 2023
According to The Telegraph, Kane is set to take a drastic measure to force Daniel Levy’s hands with United circling.
Mike McGrath reports, “Harry Kane is open to seeing out his Tottenham deal as one of his options with interest in the England captain set to intensify this summer.”
“Kane has a season left on his current Spurs deal and running down into his final year will pile pressure on chairman Daniel Levy to decide whether to accept bids this summer. The 29-year-old will be able to speak to clubs about a pre-contract in January if he wants to move on a free transfer in summer 2024. ”
“With one month left of the current campaign, clubs usually want the future of their important players with expiring contracts to be sorted but there has been no agreement over an extension.”
As per McGrath, doubts are mounting at the North London outfit over Kane’s willingness to put pen to paper on a new deal.
The player is approaching the dusk of his incredible career and with no trophies to his name, he is desperate to add pieces of silverware to his trophy cabinet.
A number of clubs from abroad such as Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain have Kane on their radar but there is a general feeling the striker wants to stay in England and break Alan Shearer’s Premier League goals record.
For United, this is a major boost. Hopefully, Levy and Tottenham’s stance over Kane softens, allowing Ten Hag to swoop in and get his main man.