Harry Kane to Manchester United?

Any other point in time over the last 30 years and thousands of red shirts with ‘KANE’ embedded on the back, would already be spotted up and down the country this summer. Such is Manchester United’s intrinsic tie with whoever appears to be England’s number 1 forward, it has always seemed a foregone conclusion that if Harry Kane were to opt for a move away from his beloved Tottenham, then he would inevitably end up on the red side of Manchester. Man United’s recent history with top English forwards contains bona fide legends such as Wayne Rooney, Andy Cole, Teddy Sheringham, Rashford, Michael Owen (even if he did have his best years in an England shirt as a Liverpool player) and even Dat Guy Welbz of course. So how is it, that during a time where Man Utd are on the hunt for a striker, and Spurs looking increasingly likely to sell rather than let him leave on a free next year, that there seems to be little to no interest in Ten Hag making a swoop for the England national team record goalscorer?

Well, let’s preface this all by saying that it is absolutely a possibility that the Red Devils are simply bypassing the bidding stage of the transfer process, and are simply waiting for Tottenham and Bayern to come to an agreement on a price before they decide to match any bid, thus avoiding any public bidding war. However, that seems fairly unlikely, even for the most ardent of United fans to believe. Instead, the more likely reason for United’s lack of interest  is, as is usually the case, the more boring answer: FFP. Numerous years of heavy spending seems to finally have caught up with the Reds, and with news of their prospective takeover having slowed down, it would seem splashing out close to 100 million pounds on a striker on the wrong side of 30 is not a viable option right now with the Glazers still in charge. Had their current owners broke a habit of a lifetime and decided to ease FFP concerns with an injection of cash, then it may be a different story, but such is the current situation, that isn’t going to happen. Just like everything else in life though, where there is a will there’s a way, and if Ten Hag really had his sights on Kane surely the funds could be recuperated elsewhere to help fund the deal? Harry Maguire is one name who appears to be on the chopping block especially since his recent passing of the captaincy to Bruno Fernandes, while Scott McTominay is another name who could potentially be on his way out of Stratford, but there seems a real lack of urgency to push these players out the door which leads us to believe the will is just not there this time around. 

That may be in large part due to one man, Rasmus Hojland.The original asking price set by Atalanta was nearer the $100 mark however they have shown much more flexibility in their valuation than the famously strong willed Daniel Levy. With that in mind, it may just be the case that Ten Hag is willing to take a gamble on a younger player for nearly half the price, and hope that he can mould him into a 20 goal a season striker that Manchester United have been crying out for to really round off the team. On paper, it makes complete sense, any transfer fee spent on Kane will likely be spent knowing that you will not be recuperating any of that money back. And at 30 years old, how many years of his absolute best will England’s  record goalscorer realistically be able to give to his next team? But we are not talking about ‘on paper’ we are talking about football heritage. Sensible ‘investment’ signings need to surround the superstar marquee signings that make Manchester United the global superpower they are. Old Trafford is a destination for icons and mega stars and there is none bigger in English football than the country’s record goalscorer.

For United to have waited all these years for the right time to sign Kane, only to completely opt out of any transfer when the opportunity is finally available, can only be described as a dereliction of duty. One thing is for sure, and that is if Ferguson were in charge, Kane would have most likely long been a United player, but this is Ten Hags United and faith in the new manager is at an all time post Fergie high. If he believes the club are better off looking elsewhere then the fans are on board. Unfortunately for the rest of us, we are robbed of the opportunity of seeing another iconic English striker don the Famous red of Manchester.