Harry Kane will think about what might have been when he faces Man Utd… then thank his lucky stars it never happened
HARRY KANE may take a moment to wonder what might have been as he lines up against Manchester United on Wednesday.
Then quickly thank his lucky stars that it never happened.
The Red Devils were keen on signing the England captain — but were not willing to meet Daniel Levy’s £100million price.
The word at the time was Tottenham’s 280-goal all-time top scorer would have fancied it.
Fast forward a few months and Bayern Munich’s new star must be more than happy with how things worked out.
Four goals in as many starts for the Germans — including the first in a 2-2 draw with Leverkusen on Friday — show Kane has settled in nicely in Bavaria.
And he must be licking his lips over facing a United side who have shipped TEN goals in their last four Prem matches.
Erik ten Hag’s men visit the Allianz Arena in the opening fixture in Group A of this term’s Champions League.
If United perform the way they did on Saturday you fear for them against Thomas Tuchel’s side.
Things have gone downhill for United, despite spending almost £200m to strengthen the squad from last season.
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A Carabao Cup and top-four spot was a good start to Ten Hag’s reign — and there was promise of more to come.
Yet a pattern we have seen before with Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho is emerging.
After returning to the Champions League, the summer does not go according to plan and they struggle to push forward.
To be fair, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer managed back-to-back finishes in the top four before the same thing happened.
On Saturday Ten Hag came under fire from fans for the first time in his 14-month reign.
He will still believe big buys like Rasmus Hojlund and Mason Mount will come good.
He is also missing another new boy in injured midfielder Sofyan Amrabat while it is well documented that Antony and Jadon Sancho are not part of the squad right now.
But at the same time, he must be uneasy at the dip in form of a couple of last term’s stars.
Casemiro looked like a five-time Champions League winner for a lot of his first season in England.
This year the Brazilian, 31, has struggled and was hooked after the hour with United 2-0 down.
Centre-back Lisandro Martinez became a cult figure and last term’s injury almost felt like a death in the family.
But the Argentine has been part of some suspect defensive performances this term.
The way he dived in as Pascal Gross neatly side-stepped him to score the Seagulls’ second will not have escaped Kane’s notice.
By then, United were in danger of being embarrassed as their vibrant start quickly faded.
Danny Welbeck took advantage of Adam Lallana’s dummy to give Brighton a 20-minute lead.
Things could have been different if Hojlund’s goal had stood — but Marcus Rashford allowed the ball to go millimetres over the byline.
But the Old Trafford faithful knew the game was up when Gross scored on 53 minutes.
And many had seen enough when Joao Pedro’s effort beat the outstretched arm of Andre Onana with 19 minutes left.
Sub Hannibal Mejbri pulled one back for United but it only ever looked like a consolation.
Just six points from their first five games is the club’s worst start since Van Gaal’s first campaign in charge in 2014-15.
Rivals Manchester City and Liverpool are already disappearing over the horizon.
Old Trafford’s stands were almost deserted at the final whistle. It is shaping up to be a long season.