•Levy is a man who usually gets what he wants. It is well documented that Manchester City have offered £100 million for Harry which Levy has rejected and the striker is furious.
•However, Harry has just returned from a holiday in Jamaica, with a stop-over in Florida and by law has to have a Covid test and an isolation period.
Image: REUTERS
It was inevitable that the Harry Kane situation would eventually turn nasty. Harry was convinced he had a gentleman’s agreement with chairman Daniel Levy that if he stayed for last season he could leave during this summer’s transfer window.
Levy is a man who usually gets what he wants. It is well documented that Manchester City have offered £100 million for Harry which Levy has rejected and the striker is furious. Now Spurs’ fans and Levy are upset with Kane who it is claimed refused to return to work and stayed at home instead of joining pre-season training.
However, Harry has just returned from a holiday in Jamaica, with a stop-over in Florida and by law has to have a Covid test and an isolation period. It has worked well for Harry that he is not actually allowed to join the Spurs squad until he is given the Covid all clear.
What is also not known by many people is that Harry has been in contact with Manchester City players himself and expressed his desire to join them.
Another incredible and little known fact is that new manager Nuno Espirito Santos has had no contact with Kane since he returned from the Euros and in fact has never spoken with his striker.
City’s financial backers are alarmed that Levy has turned down £100m, and say they won’t go as high as £160 Million, which Levy says is the only number that will change his mind. It is interesting that Tottenham’s Director of Football Fabio Paratici has not lined up a potential replacement for Harry.
He is confident Harry will not be allowed to leave. I can remember both Gareth Bale and Luka Modric both refused to report for training when they wanted to move from Spurs to Real Madrid.
Their reputations with the Spurs’ faithful remained intact but Harry is already attracting bad publicity and his standing in Tottenham might become poisonous.
Spurs are already talking of fining Harry over £100k to teach him a lesson, an aggressive act which I believe will only make matters worse. I can tell you that Harry was dismayed when Spurs sacked Jose Mourinho immediately before the Carabao Cup final because he thought they could win and he would finally see some silverware.
It was not to be after Ryan Mason, a 29-year-old was amazingly appointed and Spurs lost the final. Kane saw that as the final straw and he was determined to leave to further his career.
It was Harry’s mistake to sign a 6-year contract with no escape clause and Levy is betting on this to keep his prize asset. The contract still has three years to run. The saga is rolling on with Kane and Levy both determined not to give way.
Grealish will be wearing light blue next week
Image: /reuters
The other big transfer issue of the summer has at last seen Jack Grealish arrive in Manchester for his medical and to sign a contract.
Grealish met with Aston Villa’s sporting director, manager Dean Smith and owners Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris to explain that it was time for him to move on.
Villa offered to dramatically improve his contract with an offer of £200k-a-week and an extended contract but Manchester City won the day and he will now earn £300k-a-week! He said goodbye to his Villa teammates on Wednesday afternoon.
The 25-year-old will at last be able to play in the Champions League, the same ambition that means so much to Tottenham’s Harry Kane.
Villa immediately signed Danny Ings from Southampton to replace Grealish along with Bayer Leverkusen’s exciting young striker Leon Biley who scored 39 goals in three seasons.
United face uphill battle to get players fit
Pre-season training has not gone exactly to plan for Ole Gunner Solskjaer. Five friendlies have been reduced to four and the manager has a lot of work to do before the opening game of the season against Leeds next weekend.
United believe a strong start to the season is vital if they are to challenge for the top spot this season. Solskjaer is also aware that he has a tough late autumn run playing Leicester, Liverpool, Tottenham, Man City, Chelsea and Arsenal one after another.
Solskjaer is frustrated at his bad luck with goalkeeper Dean Henderson still recovering from Covid, David de Gea hasn’t played at all since the defeat to Villarreal in the Europa Cup Final, Luke Shaw is recovering from his broken rib injury and Harry Maguire has also not played since the Euros.
New signing Raphael Varane returned briefly to Real Madrid this week for a training session but needs to quarantine when returning to the UK and defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka is recovering from two knocks picked up during the summer.
Bruno Fernandes, Paul Pogba and Scott McTominay have not played in any of the friendly matches and Fred is still not back from his holidays since playing in the Copa America.
Edinson Cavani is also not back at Old Trafford and Jadon Sancho has not yet played with his new teammates. Marcus Rashford will be out until October following the decision to have his shoulder operation. Mason Greenwood is the only regular first team starter to have played any football so far. Solskjaer is well aware that it is going to be a tough start to the season.
Arsenal yet to make progress
Arsenal’s difficult midfield position was highlighted this week when Thomas Party hobbled off in their friendly match loss to neighbours Chelsea.
The result doesn’t matter of course as different players and moves are worked out and all players are given some game time. The injury does however highlight how vulnerable the Gunners are in midfield and they are rethinking the position of Granit Xhaka.
He was due to join Jose Mourinho at Roma but it now looks likely he will stay at the Emirates for another season. New signing Ben White made his debut and Mikel Arteta looked pleased with his performance.
Jota impresses in pre-season
Image: REUTERS
Diogo Jota has been showing incredible pace and skill in pre-season training according to Jurgen Klopp’s assistant Pep Lijnders. He described the forward as “frightening” when coming on as a substitute when Liverpool defeated Hertha Berlin 4-3 in Austria. Jota had only just returned from an extended holiday after competing in the Euros and was full of energy.
Lijnders said, “You see immediately the speed he has and, at the same time, so much control over his body and the ball. It’s frightening. He gives our front line a lot of direction and energy. Diogo is not a typical Portuguese winger who receives the ball at his feet and creates opportunities with dribbles from outside. He is vertical, a second striker in the box.
He smells the goal and is technically on a high level. Lijnders said this week, “Especially with our passing game we need Diogo’s movements in behind the last line. He also defends on a high level.” Manager Jurgen Klopp is still concerned that no player has emerged as a natural successor to Roberto Firmino.
“Bobby’s” long term fitness is a concern and both Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Takumi Minamino have been tried in his position during their Austrian pre-season but even they admit to not getting it right. I have heard that Firmino could drop back into a deeper role in an attacking midfield position and therefore creating space for a central striker.
Chelsea offer to double Lukaku’s wages
Romelu Lukaku has told Inter Milan he wants to stay with them but Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has made it clear to his Chelsea bosses that he wants the Belgian.
The Blues have offered Inter £88m plus defender Marcos Alonso. Most importantly they have tried to tempt Lukaku by promising to double his current salary.
Chelsea originally tried to buy Dortmund’s Erling Haaland but that bid failed and I am told Chelsea have now given up chasing him. Tuchel has made a top striker his main target before the start of the new season.
Lamela recommended defender
Tottenham midfielder Erik Lamela recommended Atalanta centre-back defender Cristian Romero to manager Nuno Espirito Santos. 23 year-old Romero has just returned from a holiday in his native Argentina and flew to London on Thursday.
A £43m deal has been agreed and the Argentine international should be a Spurs player within the next few days. They have already signed Atalanta goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini on loan with an option to make it a permanent deal.
If Spurs do sign Romero, he won’t however, be playing with Lamela who has moved to Seville in part exchange for 20-year-old winger Bryan Gil. Lamela signed for Spurs in 2013 and made 257 appearances.
Fabinho looking forward to the new season
Image: /REUTERS
Signing a new contract with Liverpool has given Fabinho a new incentive to be a strong leader at Anfield. The 27-year-old has become a key player during Jurgen Klopp’s reign. He signed the Brazilian for £39.9 Million from French club Monaco.
Fabinho proved how versatile he is by covering for Virgil Van Dijk last season and operated as a centre-back. He said this week, “In my game I have improved, I’m a bit more experienced.
Now I’m 27 years old and when I arrived I was only 24. When you play at the level Liverpool do, then you are going to learn a lot of things. I know I can do better and help to better the team. I want to be the best for the team.”
Fabinho’s new contract shows that Liverpool are committed to keeping together Klopp’s current squad and Trent Alexander-Arnold’s new contract also underlines that. It is now down to the club to pin down Mo Salah, Sadio Mane, Andy Robertson, Virgil van Dijk and Jordan Henderson and get them to sign new deals.
Alisson Becker signed a new six-year contract on Wednesday. Fabinho expressed his desire to return to his preferred position of midfielder and is keen to work closely with Thiago.
He joined his fellow compatriots Roberto Firmino and Becker at their training camp in Austria this week after playing for Brazil in the Copa America.
Rafa: “I am still competitive”
Rafa Benitez reacted strongly to comments that he might have lost his competitive edge after managing in China. He spent 18 months at Chinese Super League club Dalian Pro which was not particularly successful.
He said this week, “For me managing Everton is an opportunity to show I am still competitive and capable of competing against anyone. You have to win, win, win. That was part of my education.”
Everton host Southampton on the first day of the new season. Rafa has certainly been busy as he welcomed his new signings to Finch farm this week.
Andros Townsend, Asmir Begovich and Demarai Gray all arrived for pre-season training and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Jordan Pickford and Yerry Mina are back after their holidays following international tournaments.
I have learned that Benitez will go with a 4-2-3-1 formation which probably means Pickford in goal, Coleman, Keane, Godfrey and Digne in defence and five in midfield from Davies, Allan, Doucoure, Gray, Rodriguez and Townsend with Calvert-Lewin upfront as striker.
Lingard has private meeting with Solskjaer
Jesse Lingard has had a private meeting with Ole Gunner Solskjaer and told him he wants to remain at Old Trafford and prove that he can be a valuable team member.
Jesse battled with a loss of form last season plus personal issues but then went out on loan to West Ham and was a great success. Hammers manager David Moyes would like to buy Jesse but the player told Solskjaer that was not his wish. West Ham did not agree on United’s valuation of £35m for the attacking midfielder.
If things do not work out Jesse can leave for nothing when his contract expires at the end of the coming season.
Nuno looks at Traore
Tottenham have been discussing the possibility of bringing Wolves winger Adama Traore to White Hart Lane to link-up with his old boss Nuno Espirito Santos.
I am told that Wolves would consider letting him go after three seasons at Molineux however they say they have not yet received an official approach.
Joe Hart off to Scotland
I have long felt sorry for Joe Hart. After years of faithful and solid performances for Manchester City, he was then ousted from the club by Pep Guardiola who didn’t trust him between the posts.
Joe has bounced around from club to club but this week he took time away from his current club Tottenham to take a medical to join Celtic on a three-year deal which will cost the Scottish club £1million.