Tottenham Hotspur's talismanic Harry Kane is open to giving the new boss Ange Postecoglou a chance in north London, claims journalist Alex Crook.
Tottenham Hotspur transfer news – What's the latest on Harry Kane?
It was a disappointing Premier League campaign for Spurs last season, seeing three different managers take charge of the club only to finish down in eighth and outside the European places.
It's perhaps no surprise then that the north London outfit have already made a big splash in the transfer window, bringing in the reinforcements they need to avoid another season like their last.
James Maddison and Guglielmo Vicario have already joined the club, with Israeli international Manor Solomon set to complete a medical in the coming days. However, the primary objective for this window isn't an incoming, instead, it appears to be to prevent the sale of Harry Kane.
The England captain has just a year left on his current deal and has unsurprisingly attracted the interest of top clubs, including Erik ten Hag's Manchester United and European royalty Real Madrid.
However, it's Bundesliga champions Bayern that appear to be making the most substantial effort to sign Spurs' all-time top scorer, with the Bavarian side already having an initial bid of £60m plus add-ons rejected by the Lilywhites.
The Daily Mail has reported that the Germans are preparing a second bid worth over £80m, but even that isn't expected to be enough as the Spurs' icon seems reluctant to kick up the same level of fuss as he did two years ago over a proposed move to Manchester City, per journalist Alex Crook.
Speaking on TalkSPORT's YouTube channel, he said:
"I don't think Tottenham feel like they need showdown talks this summer with Harry Kane because I don't think it's a similar scenario to a year ago when he was hankering for that move to Manchester City. Of course, he effectively went AWOL from training, didn't report back for duty on time. Spurs aren't predicting or envisaging a repeat of that.
"I think Harry Kane is happy to give Ange Postecoglou the chance to prove himself and to prove this Tottenham reveloution can move the club forward, but according to our sources in Germany, Bayern Munich aren't giving up the fight just yet. They're readying a big money bid for Harry Kane, but I think it would take a huge money offer to persuade Daniel Levy to cash in on the England captain."
Did Harry Kane try to force a move two years ago?
As Alex Crook explains, there seems to be very little effort on the side of the player or his representative to force this deal through, at least to those of us on the outside.
Often when a player is the subject of a transfer saga, they can speed things along by either handing in a transfer request or outright refusing to participate in team activities like training or pre-season tours.
This, to a certain extent, is what Kane did in the summer of 2021 when the distinct possibility of a move to City arose.
According to the Guardian, during that summer, the "world's best striker" actively informed the club of his desire to leave north London over an increasing frustration at the team's inability to win major trophies.
The situation worsened as the season approached, with the superstar refusing to turn up for training after the club rejected Pep Guardiola's £100m bid.
Ultimately it was the player that blinked first in that situation and eventually rejoined the side before going on to continue his prolific goalscoring, so perhaps it's not that surprising that he is reluctant to once again go down that road, preferring instead to remain quiet and potentially leave on a free next year.