Manchester United legend Roy Keane has urged Harry Kane to forget about the idea of a move away from Tottenham this season, claiming that his reported ‘gentleman’s agreement’ with Daniel Levy is ‘bizarre’. The England skipper is looking for a fresh challenge ahead of the new Premier League campaign, with Manchester City believed to be keen on securing his signature.
Kane did not train with Spurs this week and was set to return to the club on Saturday in order to step up his pre-season preparations.
He reportedly believes that he has a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ with Levy to allow him to leave this summer.
However, the Spurs chairman is said to be hell-bent on keeping hold of Kane into next season and beyond, with the forward under contract until the summer of 2024.
When quizzed on the situation ahead of Saturday’s Community Shield between City and Leicester at Wembley, Keane suggested that Kane was naive to rely on such an agreement with Levy.
“Unless it’s written in a contract, forget about it. It’s bizarre,” the former United man told ITV Sport.
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It is understood that no release clause was inserted into the contract Kane signed back in 2018, suggesting that the possibility of a move is effectively at Levy’s discretion.
Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright echoed Keane’s sentiments by claiming that Spurs are within their rights to act in their own interests in the absence of a formal agreement.
“I don’t know, something’s been lost in translation,” said Wright.
“With the way it’s going and wanting to leave, Grealish’s move [to City] was seamless. Obviously this hasn’t happened for Tottenham yet, there’s no clause, Tottenham have every right.
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“We’re talking about Harry Kane here. We’ve seen Grealish go for £100m, without European experience, Harry Kane has all that so how much is he worth? We will have to see how it moves on.”
City are said to have already seen a bid in the region of £100m rejected by Spurs, and it remains to be seen whether they will go back in for Kane’s services over the coming weeks.
The club’s manager, Pep Guardiola, recently admitted that a move will be extremely difficult to engineer, suggesting that Levy will need to budge in order for City to stand any chance of striking an agreement.
“He’s a player for Tottenham Hotspur,” the Spaniard told reporters. “If Tottenham don’t want to negotiate, it’s finished.
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“If they are open to negotiate, I think not just Man City but many clubs in the world want to try to sign him. We are not an exception, but it depends on Tottenham.
“It’s different from Jack [Grealish]. Jack had a release clause and he is different. Harry Kane is an exceptional, extraordinary striker, no doubts about that.
“Of course we are interested but he is a Tottenham player and, if they don’t want to negotiate, there is nothing more to say. If they want to, we will try.”
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