Harry Kane’s future has been in the hands of Tottenham since he agreed to a six-year contract extension in 2018. Daniel Levy has finally held all the cards, secure in the knowledge that “one of their own” would be reluctant to damage bridges in his pursuit of a move, despite any grumbling Daniel Levy may have had about his wish to leave for two years ago, half-heartedly attempting to force his way to Manchester City.
This summer appears to be the turning point; Tottenham may be required to make a choice they’d much rather not. Although Spurs are reportedly prepared to reject the heavily rumored €70 million offer Bayern Munich is prepared to make for its vice captain, it seems extremely improbable that this will be the end of the matter. With no elite attacker last season, Bayern struggled, and their head coach Thomas Tuchel is a huge admirer of Kane.
No surprise. Kane’s acquisition to Bayern would be ideal in the same way that it would be for virtually any other team in the world because he would give them access to three different archetypes, frequently in the same move. Leroy Sane and Jamal Musiala may bounce the ball off the 30-year-old target man as they sprint for goal. As he frequently did for Heung-min Son, he could droop deeper and pick a pass for Bayern’s runners beyond him. He might also simply act as a penalty box poacher, waiting for cuts from the byline and scurrying past center backs to score.
The whole thing is Kane. That creates quite the headache if Bayern or any other club offers a player in the final year of his contract who has so far given little public indication that he would accept an extension the kind of money Tottenham can’t refuse. Since Kane can play as an exceptional number 10 and number 9, Spurs have been able to survive without much creativity in the middle of the field for years. The impending arrival of James Maddison should help with this. Can they locate a competitor who is capable of doing that? Should they try at all? Here are five possibilities Tottenham might consider if they decide to move on from their track record.
. Richarlison, an internal option for Spurs
Given that Brazil is typically quite successful at generating attackers, asking who leads the line for them would not be the worst option if you’re looking for a top-tier striker. What a pleasant surprise it would be for Tottenham to learn that the man leading the most star-studded attack in international sport has been on their payroll for the past 12 months. If you hadn’t been paying close attention to Richarlison since he left Everton, you wouldn’t have known it
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One Premier League goal was scored by him last season, although that total was famously overshadowed by the times he removed his shirt to celebrate goals that VAR later disallowed. It is simple to attribute Richarlison’s difficulties to Tottenham’s own woes, and it is logical to think that the 26-year-old would perform better under Ange Postecoglu’s more advanced style of play if he were to play more frequently.
