The advent of the Qatar World Cup has done nothing to quell the incessant rumours about the future of Harry Kane.
Today, Bayern Munich have again been linked with a move for the 29-year-old England captain and Spurs’ current top scorer in all competitions so far this season.
Florian Plettenburg of Sky Sports Germany has reported that amid all the hubbub of international duty, Bayern Munich are ‘still working on a transfer in the background’ and that Kane will make an ultimate decision on his future after the World Cup, where he is currently on duty in Qatar with England:
News #Kane: Bayern still working on it in the background! But the bosses are skeptical whether this massive deal can be realized. Price tag could be around €80-100m! At this stage no development. Kane will take a decision about his future after the World Cup. @SkySportDE 🏴 pic.twitter.com/uDXBHJSZMI
— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) November 29, 2022
I’m struggling to be convinced by this one – while Sky Sports and anyone vaguely associated with them have this long-standing reputation of being the oracle, Plettenburg fails to go into depth about what this ‘work’ that Bayern are doing to lure Kane entails, and what this “background” they’re working behind is.
Indeed, the cover that Bayern are purported to be operating behind could be Julian Nagelsmann’s shower curtain or even the curtain behind which the Wizard of Oz is pulling all his levers and gizmos, as the notion of doing a deal in the background would imply a slight degree of stealth in operation at least. Plettenburg doesn’t really specify here, does he?
I myself find it difficult that any potential deal for a player of Harry Kane’s calibre could be conducted so covertly, given that he has been consistently linked with a move away from the club from the minute the footballing world realised that he was far from a one-season wonder.
Even those with a memory of a goldfish will be able to recall Manchester City’s relentless and ultimately, ill-fated, pursuit of the Spurs talisman last year, which makes me doubt this whole story even more given Plettenburg’s speculative guess of any potential fee involved in the deal.
Yes, another year has passed on Kane’s contract, putting us in a slightly weaker bargaining position with any interested party compared to this time last year, but the incredibly wide fee scale of 80 to 100 million euros this journalist talks about here would simply have Levy laughing at the negotiating table.
Of course, Kane has agitated for a move before, so don’t be surprised to see him do it again – but this latest incarnation of rumours linking him away sounds more like a yawn from a bored journalist rather than anything founded on substantial intellect or inside information. But hey, what do I know?