With Harry Kane’s future now decided, both the England striker and his former club can go ahead and focus on a new chapter.
Kane’s desire to put the peak years of his career to the most productive use meant a move away from Tottenham was always on the cards. The north London outfit are not playing Champions League football this season, and are at 66/1 to win the Premier League title. Even the most ardent Spurs fans accept that a title at this stage in the club’s journey is the longest of long shots.
After another prolific season for Spurs – Kane scored 30 league goals last season – could not prevent them from slipping to an eighth-placed finish, the writing was on the wall for both Kane and the club he’d been at since he was 11 years old. It just remained to be seen if any club could come in and negotiate with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy, but with only a year left on his contract it was a balancing act for the club to extract the best possible fee and not price themselves out of a deal and run the risk of Kane leaving on a free transfer next summer. The player had always been clear on the fact he would not sign a new deal with Spurs at this point.
So when Bayern Munich finally reached an agreement with Spurs, the day all Spurs fans hoped would never come – but which had seemed inevitable as the club drifted further and further away from Champions League football and the Premier League top four – finally arrived.
However, Kane’s move is one most Spurs fans can understand, and the overwhelmingly positive reaction to his departure through well wishes and thanks for his immense contribution to the club show how popular he was, but also just where Spurs are really at.
It’s a strangely optimistic time for Spurs fans, as despite the departure of an irreplaceable striker, the arrival of Ange Postecoglou has helped foster a positivity that has long been absent amongst the fanbase about the direction the club’s taking.
The Australian’s no-nonsense, straight-talking approach, positive attacking football philosophy and general all-round affability has Spurs fans believing they finally have a manager in charge who can build the kind of progressive forward movement seen under Mauricio Pochettino’s stewardship, and which has been so sorely missed since the Argentine’s departure almost four years ago.
A raft of new signings has garnered largely positive reactions, but questions now linger over how Kane’s phenomenal goalscoring prowess will be replaced. It’s widely accepted his goals won’t be stumped up by one single player, but more a combination of individuals.
In terms of outright goalscoring forwards, Spurs only really have two options: Son Heung-min and Richarlison. Son’s goalscoring form dipped last season, and Richarlison only scored one league goal in his debut campaign for the club.
Additions have been made in the off-season, with James Maddison expected to contribute goals from midfield and Manor Solomon also adding an attacking option. Young Argentine striker Alejo Veliz has also been signed from Rosario Central, but none of these trio will realistically be relied upon to consistently bring goals at even a fraction of the rate Kane did.
Dejan Kulusevski is another contributor, but he tends to provide assists rather than goals. All of which makes it clear that Postecoglou and Levy still have some work to do before the transfer window closes at the end of the month.