Tottenham Hotspur may be "open to selling Harry Kane" to Bayern Munich for the sole purpose of eliminating the "prospect of him going for free to a Premier League club next summer", according to Sky Sports reporter Dharmesh Sheth.
Is Harry Kane leaving Tottenham Hotspur this summer?
Despite Spurs having a brilliant start to the summer transfer window this year, bringing in talented players like James Maddison for £40m, Manor Solomon for free, and Guglielmo Vicario for £17m, the attention has again shifted to star striker Kane.
The Walthamstow-born goal machine has just 12 months left on his £200,000-a-week contract at the north London club, a fact Europe's top sides are well aware of.
Earlier in the window, it looked as if Manchester United were the favourites to secure his signature before pulling out over the price and Daniel Levy's reluctance to negotiate.
It was Spanish giants Real Madrid after that, but again, the price tag was deemed too much for Los Blancos, especially just after signing Kane's compatriot Jude Bellingham, and then came Bayern.
The German Behemoths are – currently – the only side actively pursuing Tottenham's all-time leading goalscorer, and they do not seem put off by the challenge of negotiating a deal with Levy, so far anyway.
The Bundesliga champions have already had two offers for the 29-year-old turned down by the club, the second being worth an estimated €80m (£69m) plus add-ons, per the Evening Standard.
While their second offer was ultimately deemed not good enough, it does look like it has been successful in so much as Spurs are now willing to speak to them directly, potentially as the realisation has set in that by selling now, they can avoid the disaster of their star player joining a Premier League rival for free next summer, per Sky Sports reporter Dharmesh Sheth.
He explained the situation live on Sky Sports News (via Football Daily), saying:
"The information that we are getting is that Tottenham have opened dialogue with Bayern Munich and that Harry Kane is looking at all avenues that are available to him. Now one avenue we have been told that is not available to him is moving to another Premier League club. We understand that Tottenham Hotspur will not sell to another Premier League club.
"Now if they are keeping the dialogue open with Bayern Munich, it would suggest that if a deal can be agreed, they could be open to selling Harry Kane simply because if they sell to Bayern Munich, one, of course they're not selling to a Premier League club, but they eliminate the prospect of him going for free to a Premier League club next summer."
Who else have Tottenham Hotspur been linked to this summer?
Just because the club are involved in yet another transfer saga with Kane doesn't mean that there isn't a plethora of players being touted for a move to N17, with one of those players being Danish centre-back Joachim Andersen of Crystal Palace.
According to the Sun, Ange Postecoglou is pushing hard for this deal as he wants to improve the quality of player he has at his disposal and views the Dane as that quality.
However, there are two major stumbling blocks to this deal. The first is that mega-rich Newcastle United are also said to be interested in the 27-year-old, and two, Palace want a club record fee for the player, which would be around the £50m mark.
Another player, the Lilywhites, are interested in is Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic. According to Italian journalist Rudy Galetti, Spurs are "taking the first steps to better understand the situation" of the Serbian striker.
The Italian has claimed that the club see him as the "ideal replacement" should their efforts to keep Kane fail.
This deal has similar problems, in that Paris Saint-Germain are interested in the Juve man, and he would likely cost in the region of £77m, according to reports from Italian media. Although, with this deal being contingent on Kane's departure, the price might not be such an issue.
Whatever happens with Tottenham's leading scorer over the next month and a half, it looks almost certain that he won't be playing for any other sides in the Premier League come next season.
