Opinion: Hear me out – Selling Kane is the best thing Spurs can do this summer

I know this one is going to be divisive, so I want to start by clarifying that I love Harry Kane, and it will kill me when he leaves. He is a wonderful footballer, the best I have ever seen play for my club, and we will obviously be a worse side without him. BUT… […]

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I know this one is going to be divisive, so I want to start by clarifying that I love Harry Kane, and it will kill me when he leaves. He is a wonderful footballer, the best I have ever seen play for my club, and we will obviously be a worse side without him.

BUT… I truly believe keeping him for another season would be a disastrous decision. One that would potentially destroy the Postecoglou project before it can even get going.

LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 20: Harry Kane of Tottenham Hotspur applauds the fans after the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Brentford FC at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on May 20, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Craig Mercer/MB Media/Getty Images)

It’s time to part ways with Kane and take the money

There’s one harsh truth that we Spurs fans need to come to terms with. Harry Kane is not going to sign a new contract, it’s painfully obvious. The fact he is clearly now willing to move abroad this summer makes it even clearer (Guardian).

He could pick his destination and almost certainly negotiate a higher salary if he stuck it out for one more year and left for free, yet he clearly wants to get out of North London as soon as possible.

Just look at the absolute mess the club was in at the end of the season, would you tie yourself down to that project?

As good as Kane is, he isn’t worth £100m for one season. If you seriously think Spurs should forgo that kind of money to let him leave for free, you might need to reassess how you view the club.

We aren’t Real Madrid, PSG, or Man City, so sometimes we need to prioritise the long-term health of the club. Replacing Harry Kane is a herculean task even with an extra £100m to spend, it becomes almost impossible if he leaves for nothing next summer.

The fanbase has been crying out for us to build a sustainable project, instead of indulging in the kind of short-term thinking that gave us the miserable Jose and Conte eras. With Postecoglou, we finally have a manager who can provide this.

But, it is well-known that he takes some time to get his methods across to the squad. I can’t see Spurs bucking this trend given how big a departure ‘Angeball’ will be from the turgid style we have seen over the last few years.

Does it make sense to keep a wantaway Kane for a season where we are unlikely to challenge?

If you keep him, the new manager’s whole first season becomes dominated by the Kane saga. The England captain is a model professional, so I don’t think he’d cause problems.

However, players never tend to play their best when they know they are leaving. Then, in the very likely event that he does leave, Postecoglou has to start from scratch and rebuild the system to replace the Harry Kane-sized hole in the attack.

By allowing for a clean break now at the start of a new project, you get the funds for the manager to build this squad in his image now, rather than just making the problem much worse next season. Selling Kane will also massively ease the expectation on the manager.

If we forgo 100m to keep him, Postecogou will be expected to provide the kind of miracle that makes that decision worth it. Contrastingly, let him leave and the consensus is that a top-half finish would be a good achievement.

On top of all of this, there’s an argument to be made that Kane doesn’t actually suit ‘Angeball’. At his most recent clubs, the Aussie has preferred to use a high-intensity presser upfront in a thankless role to provide for the rest of the team.

Kane played this kind of role perfectly under Pochettino. But, after a series of long-term ankle injuries, he adapted his position to be kinder on his body physically.

Whisper it quietly, but this pressing role actually seems pretty perfect for last season’s big-money purchase, Richarlison. The Brazilian’s defensive numbers have maintained consistently strong throughout his career.

Last season he averaged 4.38 defensive duels per 90 with a 57% success rate to Kane’s 1.92 per 90 with a 51% success rate (DataMB). Obviously, this one isolated stat doesn’t prove much, and I am in no way saying that I think Richarlison will ever be anywhere near as good as Kane is.

However, to accommodate Kane, Postecoglou would likely need to change his system drastically. Then, after the squad is used to this style, Kane is likely to leave for free.

I think everyone knows that Richarlison had a poor first season. Both he and Conte even admitted so themselves in one of last season’s weirder moments.

In his defence, he rarely played in his preferred position up front and was never able to build any momentum, constantly shunted out wide and sadly injured at points when it looked like he could take off. ‘Angeball’ could be the perfect fresh start for the 26-year-old, as he seems a perfect fit for the system.

Surely he deserves a chance to play in his best position, rather than building the whole team around a player who will almost certainly be gone before the project peaks. This seems like the kind of short-term thinking we’re all desperate for the club to move away from!

This summer seems like the perfect time for Kane and Spurs to part ways, no matter how much it hurts. I’d love nothing more than to see Kane spend his whole career at Spurs, but it’s clearly not going to happen.

Faced with the choice between losing him now for circa £100m, or seeing him leave for free, there’s only one option for me!

I’ll leave you with this. If you think it’ll hurt watching Kane move abroad to join Madrid or Bayern this summer. Imagine how it will feel if he goes for free to Man United next season. Or, even worse, Pochettino’s Chelsea…

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