Transfer balls: Daniel Levy holds the cards as Spurs play Harry Kane
The news cycle has lots more on Harry Kane, the Spurs player at “loggerheads” with his club over a new pay deal. The Mail leads with the story that Kane is demanding parity with Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy, currently trousering £120,000 a week. But Spurs are “not prepared” to give Kane that kind of cash.
Spurs might have noticed that before Vardy signed his new bumper deal, he was on fire. At this stage last season, hungry Vardy had scored 12 goals. Over the summer he got a new contract. Vardy has now gone 14 matches without scoring. Big pay does not always equate to big performances.
Facts then become a little murky. The Mail says Spurs’ top earner is Hugo LLoris, who earns £90,000 a week. But yesterday the Sun said Spurs midfielder Moussa Sissoko gets £95,000 a week.
The paper says Daniel Levy, the Spurs chairman, is a “shrewd” operator. His method is to give improving players “incremental pay rises while adding a year or two to the deal”.
(And who cannot agree that Levy gets value? In today’s Express, David Kidd reminds us of Spurs’s battle with West Ham over the Olympic Stadium. Levy wanted to rip up the running track and joint-fund the venture with AEG. He’d also revamp the Crystal Palace stadium for athletics. Instead of that, the taxpayer now funds a soulless bowl where fans sit a long way from the action. “As for West Ham’s claim they would make football more affordable – well, for their first category A Prem home match with Arsenal, even kids and OAPs must pay £50-£80.” Levy was right.)
The issue for Spurs is that Kane wants a big lift on the £60,000 a week he now earns. The good news, we’re told, is that Kane is not “demanding” to be paid the £200,000 a week the likes of Raheem Sterling earns at Manchester City. He’s happy to be on par with Vardy and Liverpool’s Daniel Sturridge.
On the flip side, the Mail says Manchester United and Chelsea can pay that sort of cash and both want Kane. If they want him that badly, they will need to cough up. Spurs have shown they are prepared to sell their top talent for big money. It’s not far-fetched to think of Kane leaving – and Spurs doing very well from the deal.
Posted: 15th, November 2016 | In: Back pages, Sports, Spurs Comment (1) | TrackBack | Permalink
