Liverpool chief aims dig at Man Utd over Kane transfer – and explains Mbappe problem | OneFootball

Man Utd have been warned against signing Tottenham striker Harry Kane by an unlikely source, with Liverpool wading into the ongoing transfer saga.

Kane has been earmarked as a priority signing this summer by Man Utd in their continuing search for a proven goalscorer at No. 9.

With a year remaining on his Spurs contract, this is one of the final chances Daniel Levy will get to extract a fee for the striker, but his reluctance to sell to a rival, as well as interest from Real Madrid, has complicated Man Utd’s path.

Another thing which could lead Man Utd to pursue different targets is Kane’s age, with the England captain turning 30 in July.

That factor would rule out any prospective Liverpool move for Kane, according to the club’s outgoing director of research Ian Graham.

Speaking at the Cheltenham Science Festival this week, Graham was quoted by The Guardian as answering a question about who should sign Kane by responding: “A club that doesn’t care about value for money.”

Graham continued: “He’s 29. It’s going to be a high transfer fee for three years of performance that might start declining.”

But he did direct some praise towards Old Trafford – albeit for legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

“From a data point of view,” he said, “it’s magnificent the way Alex Ferguson constructed a team that was ageing just as he left. It really did cement his legacy.”

The Liverpool transfer chief, who is leaving the club this summer after more than a decade as part of the Anfield staff during a period of immense success, also waded in to corroborate Jurgen Klopp’s repeated point on Kylian Mbappe.

The Paris Saint-Germain has long been linked with Liverpool but Klopp has constantly rebuffed the idea of a move for Mbappe due to the money involved.

“Any statistical model will tell you that Kylian Mbappe is the best player in Europe at the moment,” Graham told the audience. “But unfortunately, financially, he’s out of Liverpool’s league. We’re looking for the best performing players per pound.”

Liverpool certainly seem to have found that with first summer signing Alexis Mac Allister, who has joined for a fee reported in some quarters to be around £35m.