Tottenham Hotspur have hired a new manager and club director this summer, and now that both positions are finally settled, what’s going to happen with their roster reshaping? Who is coming and going this summer silly season? What about their talisman Harry Kane?
It’s time to do some Tottenham transfer talk, starting with forward Gareth Bale, who has now returned to Real Madrid. It sounds like the Welshman could retire from club football when his contract expires at the end of the upcoming season.
That’s according to the Daily Mirror, who report that while he might be bailing out on club competition, Bale, 31, could still represent Wales at the 2022 World Cup even if he is no longer playing club ball. The captain of the Wales national team scored 19 goals during his Spurs loan spell this past season.
Once the season concluded, Gareth Bale said on Championship Sunday: “I know what I am doing but it will just cause chaos if I say anything.”
It’s just reading the tea leaves of course, but it does sound, given that comment, that he might be ready to hang up his cleats.
Switching over now to Harry Kane, whom Manchester City have reportedly already placed a bid on, he’s still on international duty with England at the Euros, where he’s now scored three goals in the past two games. England take on Denmark later today in the Euro semifinals.
The Premier League champions have been linked with Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland, in addition to Kane, and both of these players would almost certainly cost more than ยฃ100m in transfer fees in order to get over the line. City manager Pep Guardiola claims his team cannot afford those prices, and that they will not be buying any centre forwards this summer.
(spoiler alert: no one believes this)
“At the prices [quoted] we are not going to buy any strikers,”ย Guardiola said. “It is impossible, we cannot afford it.
“All clubs are struggling financially; we are not an exception. We have Gabriel [Jesus] and Ferran [Torres] who have been incredible in this position. We have young players in the academy and we play many times with a false No. 9. There is more of a chance we aren’t going to buy a striker for next season.”
Guardiola already said this back in April, and no one believed him back then either. City, as well as Paris Saint-Germain, are on a different financial plane above everyone else. Guardiola has also said that City will replace the departed Sergio Aguero, something they have yet to do, so this doesn’t exactly all square completely.
Turning to Kane himself, the face of English football has said that he hasn’t spoken with either Nuno Espirito Santo nor Fabio Paritici yet.
“Whenever a new manager comes in, I guess there’s a level of excitement around the club,” Kane said to talkSPORT.
“Obviously, I’ve not been there and not had any contact with him. I’m away with England now and my full focus is on here. Hopefully, we’ve got a week left.
“He’s a great manager and did a great job at Wolves and got them playing a really good way. Let’s get back and I’m sure we’ll be in contact after the tournament.”
โOf course as a player you want to be wanted, you want to feel like youโre loved, which I do,โ Kane said.
โI havenโt had the chance to talk to any of these people yet. Iโm sure weโll get to know each other after the tournament, have a phone call or two once I get a week or two of holiday.โ
Paul M. Banks runsย The Sports Bank, partnered withย News Now.ย Banks, the author of โTransatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in Americaโ andย โNo, I Canโt Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,โ has regularly appeared inย WGN,ย Sports Illustratedย and theย ย Chicago Tribune.
Follow himย onย Twitterย andย Instagram.
