Big Summary: £160m and £400,000 per week for Harry Kane | OneFootball

Manchester City have been linked with a staggering £160million move for Tottenham and England striker Harry Kane, with a wage package of £400,000 per week mooted – but reports throughout the day have put those claims on ice. Here, we'll neatly unpack all the reports and tell you what's being said.

Last night, The Sun's assistant showbiz editor Clemmie Moodie claimed that Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy had agreed to let Harry Kane join an English club – having previously said he would only sell the 27-year-old to a European club – reportedly revealing the news to Kane and his brother, Charlie, on the phone last Friday – two days before Charlie's wedding.

Moodie stated that the England captain was understood to have shaken hands with Manchester City on a four to five-year contract for £400,000 per week, with the 27-year-old allegedly sharing the joy of his 'pending £160million City move' at his brother's wedding to family and friends.

Furthering to last night's intense speculation was the revelation that Charlie Kane, who is also his brother's agent, was following Moodie on Instagram – providing the potential source of the story and proving the veracity of the claims to some supporters last night.

However, while many got caught up in the excitement of the club finally making a move in the transfer market, many took a critical approach to the figures Moodie had splashed across The Sun's front page.

Some fans were quick to criticise the idea that Kane would net a steep £400,000 per week, which would place him above Kevin De Bruyne as the club's highest earner, with the Belgian set to enter his seventh season at the club – as the vice-captain – and widely regarded as the best player in the Premier League.

It just isn't something City would do, given Kane isn't probably on anywhere near that sum for Spurs at the moment and the fact the striker's preferred destination is the Etihad according to reputable sources – meaning they don't need to throw the kitchen sink at him.

The £160million fee itself was quite simply an outrageous suggestion, too. While the club are willing to exceed the £100million threshold to land Kane, according to well-placed journalists, the idea they would go as high as £160million to land a player that will turn 28 next week and has had his fair share of injury issues was enough to completely disregard the report for some.

Ultimately, given Moodie's links to Charlie Kane and the intricacies of the wedding aspect of the story, the claims could not be completely discarded, but it was abundantly clear the fees touted were nothing more than sensationalist nonsense – for those that wanted to see it, of course.

Speaking to Sky Sports this morning, David Ornstein of The Athletic mentioned how those claims had taken both clubs a little by surprise and explained how he was not sure if City would go to the levels Levy would expect – £150million or more.

This was followed by football.london's Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold bringing the Spurs perspective, which was the club maintaining that they have no intention of selling their talisman this summer, amid the claims from The Sun.

Stuart Brennan of the Manchester Evening News then reported that City had made it plain that talk they have agreed a £160million deal for the striker was nonsense, with club sources also adding that they would never pay that kind of sum for the player.

Brennan later tweeted that his report not contesting The Sun's claims that Levy had cleared the way for Kane to leave, with the journalist saying he had no information regarding that subject – but rather it was the reported £160million fee that prompted the club to respond.

Gary Jacob of The Times then provided further information detailing that Kane believes Spurs are willing to sell him this summer in what he reportedly considers to be a shift in the club's position, despite the club saying their position of having no intention to sell the forward remains unchanged.

Jacob adds that Pep Guardiola's side turned their attention to Kane, who's understood to be the club's number one striker target, after calculating that Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland would cost more than £500million, factoring in his transfer fee, wages, and agent fees.

SUMMARY

At the moment, the only thing for certain in this saga is that City won't be going anywhere near the rumoured £160million price mentioned in The Sun last night and that Tottenham will probably remain insistent on their £150million+ valuation of the striker, even with Kane believing that his employer's stance has softened with regards to selling.

This saga has the potential to drag until the end of the transfer window, with the clubs so distant in their valuation of the player and his contract situation – three years remaining – giving Levy significant leverage over any deal.

We've previously highlighted the probable need for Kane to rock the boat in order to weaken Levy's position and bring the fee down to an achievable £120million to £130million, but whether he'd actually do anything remains to be seen. Last week, Matt Law of The Telegraph claimed Kane's England teammates believed he could refuse to return to pre-season training in an attempt to force a move to City.

With City seemingly still determined to land the player despite Spurs' stance, it's safe to assume there's an awful long way to go in this saga.

Photo courtesy of Paul Childs/Imago

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