Manchester United have made signing a striker a priority this summer as Erik ten Hag could be left with only one centre-forward at the end of the season. Gary Jacob and Paul Hirst of The Times say Harry Kane is on their list of transfer targets, but they’ll have to pay around £100m to procure his signature.
After Cristiano Ronaldo had his contract mutually terminated in November, Wout Weghorst was brought in on loan to lead the line. He will return to parent club Burnley in the coming months, however, as he hasn’t done enough to warrant a permanent deal.
This will leave Ten Hag with only Anthony Martial at his disposal, but the 27-year-old has spent most of the campaign injured – Martial has featured in 34.6% of United’s Premier League games (9/26) but has amassed 19.7% of the available minutes (461/2340).
It’s easy to see why Kane is a target. The 29-year-old has scored 271 goals with 63 assists from 425 games since rising through the youth ranks to Tottenham’s first-team. His future in North London is uncertain too. Kane, who boasts 53 goals and 17 assists from 80 England caps, is out of contract in 2024 and may not sign a new deal beyond next year.
He tried to leave in 2021 when Manchester City were interested but was forced to stay as his £150m asking price wasn’t matched. Tottenham may not budge on their valuation of Kane this summer, but United will be able to sign him for £50m less than two years ago and £100m would represent a club-record deal.
Kane has been open in the past about his desire to win silverware at the highest level. Tottenham were recently knocked out of the Champions League and FA Cup while sitting fourth in the league, so they aren’t going to win a thing this season.
United, however, have won the EFL Cup and are still in the latter stages of the Europa League and FA Cup, so they are an attractive proposition for Kane. Spurs won’t want to lose the 29-year-old on a free transfer next year, so they’re coming around to the idea of selling early while he still has value. Time will tell if this long-awaited deal will get over the line, however.
