Paul Merson believes that Harry Kane could tarnish his Tottenham legacy if he moves clubs in the summer despite becoming Tottenham's all-time top scorer at the weekend. The 29-year-old scored the only goal of the game to beat Manchester City on Sunday and overtook Jimmy Greaves' 266 goals for the club.
Kane is now the outright leading goalscorer for Spurs with the promise of many more to come. In the process, he also became just the third Premier League player to notch up 200 goals, behind only Wayne Rooney and Alan Shearer for that record.
The question of his future is far from simple though. The England captain is out of contract in under 18 months and no extension has been agreed, though football.london understands there remains optimism that he will commit his future to his boyhood club.
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As one of the leading forwards in the world game for nearly nine years Kane is undoubtedly admired by many across the world but Daniel Levy has remained defiant that his prize asset won't be moving anywhere. That may well be tested in the summer though with Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Chelsea all looking for new strikers.
Arsenal legend Merson believes Kane is just the man to solve Graham Potter's issues but can't see England's top scorer moving across London. "Chelsea haven't got that natural goal scorer," he told SkySports. "For all the great talent they do have, you do need that natural striker in front of goal who is going to get a goal out of nothing.
"We've seen this with Harry Kane and Tottenham for two weeks in a row. He has just won Spurs six points through unbelievable finishing against Fulham and Manchester City. Chelsea haven't got that player, and there are not a lot of them around in the world of football.
"It's a hard one. Everybody wants a centre forward, but Chelsea do need to get one. The one that is staring everybody in the face is Kane. But I don't think he goes to Chelsea because of his Tottenham legacy, which I feel he'd lose if he moves to Stamford Bridge."
Former Spurs midfielder Jamie O'Hara has a different take though. He believes Kane needs to take matters into his own hands in order to secure tangible success and trophies.
Speaking to Grosvenor Sport, he said: “The player and person that Harry Kane is with the mentality that he has, he wants some trophies. He can’t finish his career as the Premier League all-time record goal scorer with just an Audi Cup. That won’t be acceptable to him. I think he’ll have to look to move on if he wants a Premier League title. Manchester United, at the moment, might be the place to be.
“Man United will look at his situation at Spurs and think they have got to sell; he’s a £100 million player even with a year left on his contract, so I think they will have to suffer it to bring him in. If he goes in the summer because he wants to win a trophy or wants change, good on him, he can’t be blamed for that. He’ll be forever a legend at Spurs, and if he wants out, well, it’s his career.
“He’ll be chasing down the all-time Premier League top scorer record, so he will stay in England. He only needs 60 goals, which is crazy to think; he is still only 29. He is going to break the record, one hundred per cent. Alan Shearer is going to get knocked off the perch. They never thought it would be feasible; Kane is going to do it, but in a red shirt.”
Shearer himself scored 79 goals after turning 29, playing at the highest level until his retirement aged 34. He only managed 17 across his last two seasons and struggled massively with injury. Kane has had his own fitness worries but is on course to play more minutes than he ever has this term.
He has already scored 17 times in 22 league games this season and is on course to match his best scoring season ever too. Should Levy continue to block his path and no agreement be reached he may have to push through a deal himself, O'Hara added.
“Kane has 18 months left on his contract now; come the end of the season, he’ll have one more year. He isn’t signing a new deal; why would he sign a new deal? He has broken the Spurs all-time goal record, and he hasn’t won any trophies. He has been an unbelievable servant for the football club.
“If he turns round to Daniel Levy and says I’m not signing a new deal, you either get money for me now, or I’m leaving at the end of the season, it’s up to you, he’ll get his move and will have the pick of the bunch.
“He deserves to leave for a bigger club, in my opinion. He has been at Spurs for a long time, and it isn’t his fault that they have signed rubbish players around him; he’s the golden egg in the squad, it isn’t his fault that the players they have brought in haven’t been good enough to win him trophies, so he is in his own right to call it a day.”
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