EPL

Kane will leave Spurs if price is right for Levy – Friedel

By Sports Desk April 22, 2021

Harry Kane is ambitious and wants to win trophies, but Daniel Levy will not let Tottenham's prized asset leave unless the price is right, according to Brad Friedel.

Kane reached 20 Premier League goals for a fifth season with the first of his brace against Everton last week, though the striker was forced off late in the 2-2 draw on Merseyside with an ankle injury.

The England international sat out Spurs' 2-1 home win over Southampton on Wednesday – the first outing with temporary boss Ryan Mason in charge – and it remains unclear if he will recover in time to feature in Sunday's EFL Cup final against Manchester City.

That game offers the chance to secure a first trophy during his Tottenham career; he was part of Mauricio Pochettino's squad that lost the 2019 Champions League final to Liverpool, while the north London club finished as runners up to Chelsea at the end of the 2016-17 Premier League season.

Kane has said he will assess his future after the delayed Euro 2020 tournament, though former Spurs goalkeeper Friedel reckons a move will happen if a suitor matches chairman Levy's valuation, as happened when Gareth Bale and Luka Modric ended up moving to Real Madrid.

"He will want to win trophies, no doubt about it," Friedel, who spent four seasons at Tottenham, told Stats Perform News.

"He's a very ambitious player, obviously one of the best and everyone can see his goals tally and watch him play to say that. Anyone who signs a contract at Tottenham leaves when [Levy] reaches a deal he wants to get. It didn't matter if you were Gareth Bale or Luka Modric, or you are Harry Kane.

"When the deal is right and you have multiple years left on your contract, that is when you'll be sold or renew your contract.

"Sorry to put a dampener on speculation but it is only Harry's representatives and Daniel and the board who know when that is going to be right. Anything other than that is us wasting our breath, to be honest.

"I think there is a figure and once that figure is met, Daniel will allow that sale to go through. But I do think it will end up happening before Harry Kane's career is over providing, god forbid, there's no injury. Levy is the one who will decide that. Nobody else.

Kane's two goals at Goodison Park lifted him to 164 for his career in the Premier League, good enough for seventh on the competition's all-time list. Thierry Henry (175) and Frank Lampard (177) are next in his sights, while Alan Shearer sits top on 260.

Tottenham also face a decision over the long-term future of captain Hugo Lloris, whose current contract expires at the end of the 2021-22 season.

"Hugo is still, in my opinion, one of the best around," Friedel said of the France international.

"The thing you get with Hugo is if he makes a mistake on the big occasion he knows how to bounce back. That's the one when you go out and buy a foreign goalkeeper who is not used to the Premier League, then you might have that bedding in period. If you go for a younger goalkeeper, you're definitely have some patches that go up and down.

"So as long as Hugo is fit, there's no reason why you should go out and get a new goalkeeper to replace him. That's my opinion right now.

"My opinion is you know what you have – a very good professional and goalkeeper and there's not a big need to change. If you want to purchase someone go and purchase a young outstanding goalkeeper while you have Hugo and see if that young goalkeeper can perform better than Hugo."

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