Pay That Mendes His Money: The Summer 2021 Transfer Thread

Zososoxfan

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I know I'm jumping the gun a bit here. But as I was reading a story about Barca's interest in signing Depay or Aguero on a free transfer this summer, I went to Transfermarkt to see what other big name players might be had on a free next month. I noticed that Draxler was out of contract, but I did a quick search to confirm and it looks like he turned down a more lucrative offer at Bayern to re-sign PSG. That makes no sense to me, as he only started about 12-13 Ligue 1 matches and appeared in another 10 or so.

So some "summer" transfer business is already done, hence the thread. Alaba has confirmed he's leaving Bayern and it seems all but official he's heading to Madrid. Other big name players out of contract this summer include Gini Wijnaldum (linked to Barca), Emerson of Betis (a RB wanted by just about every major club), Eric Garcia (heavily linked to Barca), Santos Borre of River Plate, and Boateng of Bayern (linked to Spurs and MLS [insert Spurs jab here]).
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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As far as I can tell, Emerson has some insanely convoluted (probably shady) ownership/contract situation in which Barca and Betis are both part owners, he is out of contract this summer, but Barca has an option to both buy Betis out for 9m euro and trigger a contract until 2024. So I don't think he is really in the same category as the other players. Barca will clearly trigger the option, then they'll have to decide whether or not to sell him on to another club. Betis apparently also has a 20% sell on clause so it might make sense for Barca just to keep him in case Dest doesn't work out.
 

Dummy Hoy

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Wednesday has been linked with soon to be out of contract Southampton CB David Agbontohoma. He's featured for their U23s this year, but has also recently played a game for Wednesday's U23 and Stoke's U23 as he weighs his options.

I'll be sure to keep everyone updated.
 

slamminsammya

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Wednesday has been linked with soon to be out of contract Southampton CB David Agbontohoma. He's featured for their U23s this year, but has also recently played a game for Wednesday's U23 and Stoke's U23 as he weighs his options.

I'll be sure to keep everyone updated.
The entire footballing world holds its collective breath.
 

Zososoxfan

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As far as I can tell, Emerson has some insanely convoluted (probably shady) ownership/contract situation in which Barca and Betis are both part owners, he is out of contract this summer, but Barca has an option to both buy Betis out for 9m euro and trigger a contract until 2024. So I don't think he is really in the same category as the other players. Barca will clearly trigger the option, then they'll have to decide whether or not to sell him on to another club. Betis apparently also has a 20% sell on clause so it might make sense for Barca just to keep him in case Dest doesn't work out.
You're right about the Barca partial ownership part, but considering the financial distress of the club, the expectation is that they will indeed buyout Betis, but then sell him on to the highest bidder. That's the true cost of the Barto era--selling any decent and promising player for a short term infusion of cash. It's truly sad to see (as a Barca fan).
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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I don't doubt that Kane wouldn't mind leaving but the reports about Kane wanting it done before the Euros sound like utter bullshit. The transfer window opens two days before the Euros begin.

I still have a hard time seeing this actually happening. Levy will want a fortune and the number of clubs with a fortune to spend is very very small.
 

The Raccoon

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I would be more than happy to not have my team mentioned at all within this thread.
The last couple of games were actually quite enjoyable and by winning the German Cup + qualifying for the CL this could even be described as a somewhat successful season.

So can everyone just stay clear of Sancho, Haaland et al. and we run it back one more year?

Thanks in advance to all the gas/oil money financed, FFP avoiding and/or Super League promoting parasite clubs -
Raccoon
 

Kliq

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If Kane wants to stay in England, he is basically looking at three possible clubs (I don't think Liverpool/Arsenal would pay up) in Man U, Man City and Chelsea. Chelsea just spent a fortune on attacking players last year, although that hasn't stopped him before. City is looking for an Aguero replacement and who would be better than Kane? I think whatever happens with Haaland will be a big thing in regards to City. Man U would be the most likely landing spot, they could use a #9 to pair with Rashford/Greenwood and could sell Martial and then use Cavani off the bench.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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If Kane wants to stay in England, he is basically looking at three possible clubs (I don't think Liverpool/Arsenal would pay up) in Man U, Man City and Chelsea. Chelsea just spent a fortune on attacking players last year, although that hasn't stopped him before. City is looking for an Aguero replacement and who would be better than Kane? I think whatever happens with Haaland will be a big thing in regards to City. Man U would be the most likely landing spot, they could use a #9 to pair with Rashford/Greenwood and could sell Martial and then use Cavani off the bench.
I don't think Levy would sell to a London rival like Chelsea and I doubt Kane would want to go there.

United seems tricky. Who is going to buy Martial (making 250k per week, coming off a season in which he scored four league goals) this summer at a decent price? Clubs are still broke in general from Covid. Players in that cost/wage bracket are basically stuck unless you're just giving them away. And if they don't sell Martial, are they really willing to buy Kane when they already have two strikers who are making a combined nearly 500k per week and bigger needs at CB and CM?

City makes the most sense in the abstract. But they have never bought a player anywhere close to this expensive and it would also be very unusual for them to spend big money on a player in this age bracket.

If Madrid somehow finds the money for Mbappe, I think PSG becomes a real possibility.
 

coremiller

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I don't think Levy would sell to a London rival like Chelsea and I doubt Kane would want to go there.

United seems tricky. Who is going to buy Martial (making 250k per week, coming off a season in which he scored four league goals) this summer at a decent price? Clubs are still broke in general from Covid. Players in that cost/wage bracket are basically stuck unless you're just giving them away. And if they don't sell Martial, are they really willing to buy Kane when they already have two strikers who are making a combined nearly 500k per week and bigger needs at CB and CM?

City makes the most sense in the abstract. But they have never bought a player anywhere close to this expensive and it would also be very unusual for them to spend big money on a player in this age bracket.

If Madrid somehow finds the money for Mbappe, I think PSG becomes a real possibility.
Spurs supposedly tried to get Martial a few years ago as part of an Alderweireld swap. But I think his wages were less then and his current wages would make it difficult.

Kane has three years left on his contract. It would take a massive fee for Levy to sell him, and I can't see anyone ponying up that fee for a 28-year-old with a history of niggling injury problems. Why not just spend the same money on Sancho or Haaland?
 

bosox4283

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[/QUOTE]
I’m sure City would be interested but the price is a problem. I wonder if a deal could be worked around Jesus who would probably fit Simeones style better
What’s up with Felix? Hasn’t been good?
Early in the season, Joao Felix was arguably playing the best in La Liga. Since then, he has regressed, in part due to injured and in part to what is perceived to be his lack of grasp of Simeone's style. The question is whether or not Joao will truly fit within Simeone's system.
 

67YAZ

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Who is going to buy Martial (making 250k per week, coming off a season in which he scored four league goals) this summer at a decent price?
This is one of the problems with the current mega-club market. The wages for rotation players and even squad depth guys make many transfers prohibitively expensive for even clubs the next tier down.

Who would take Martial on £250k/week now? He could surely help a lot of clubs across the Big 5 leagues, but he’d have to take a major pay cut to make a move. What would motivate that?

ManU’s best option for financial relief is a subsidized loan deal, which doesn’t help a whole lot when working out the multi-year financing on a major transfer. So another big talent squanders his prime on a mega-club bench.
 
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Kliq

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Couldn't Martial go to PSG? They lack a true #9 and played a lot of Moise Keane this season. Kane would obviously be a target for PSG, but assuming he wants to stay in England...
 

67YAZ

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Couldn't Martial go to PSG? They lack a true #9 and played a lot of Moise Keane this season. Kane would obviously be a target for PSG, but assuming he wants to stay in England...
Not that I’ve seen this rumor, but Benzema as a make weight for Mbappe or even just paying Madrid for Benzema as they pursue another hot young thing makes sense.

Edit: Benzema has always been overshadowed by his more famous teammates, but playing next to Ronaldo is really difficult for central attackers. Look at how tricky managing Ronaldo’s preferences has been at Juve, where Dybala’s career has stalled out because he can’t make it work. All this is to say Benzema should really know how to mesh with Neymar, if they share a pitch.
 
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Mighty Joe Young

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I don't think Levy would sell to a London rival like Chelsea and I doubt Kane would want to go there.

United seems tricky. Who is going to buy Martial (making 250k per week, coming off a season in which he scored four league goals) this summer at a decent price? Clubs are still broke in general from Covid. Players in that cost/wage bracket are basically stuck unless you're just giving them away. And if they don't sell Martial, are they really willing to buy Kane when they already have two strikers who are making a combined nearly 500k per week and bigger needs at CB and CM?

City makes the most sense in the abstract. But they have never bought a player anywhere close to this expensive and it would also be very unusual for them to spend big money on a player in this age bracket.

If Madrid somehow finds the money for Mbappe, I think PSG becomes a real possibility.
Agreed that PSG would seem the most likely. Could be an incredible summer of striker musical chairs. Still, Kane would be what ? 4th choice ? among the really expensive available strikers.

In order of desirability ...
Haaland or Mbappe
Sancho
Kane


For Kane to go to PSG , Mbappe would have to go ... but who the hell could afford him considering the 150m transfer fee plus the insane wages he’s demanding. Still, if Mbappe’s contract is up in 2022 so PSG have to sign him or move him on this summer. Would have to be Real Madrid wouldn’t it?

I don’t think Kane’s going anywhere ... well, maybe ManU.
 

Kliq

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Agreed that PSG would seem the most likely. Could be an incredible summer of striker musical chairs. Still, Kane would be what ? 4th choice ? among the really expensive available strikers.

In order of desirability ...
Haaland or Mbappe
Sancho
Kane


For Kane to go to PSG , Mbappe would have to go ... but who the hell could afford him considering the 150m transfer fee plus the insane wages he’s demanding. Still, if Mbappe’s contract is up in 2022 so PSG have to sign him or move him on this summer. Would have to be Real Madrid wouldn’t it?

I don’t think Kane’s going anywhere ... well, maybe ManU.
Mbappe and Sancho aren't strikers. Completely different players from Haaland and Kane.
 

the1andonly3003

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if Kane wants to win trophies, shouldn't he push for a move to Bayern? He would be going for a domestic treble at worst, if not strong content for a quadruple.
He'd be best off reuniting with Poch at PSG
 

the1andonly3003

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Agreed that PSG would seem the most likely. Could be an incredible summer of striker musical chairs. Still, Kane would be what ? 4th choice ? among the really expensive available strikers.

In order of desirability ...
Haaland or Mbappe
Sancho
Kane


For Kane to go to PSG , Mbappe would have to go ... but who the hell could afford him considering the 150m transfer fee plus the insane wages he’s demanding. Still, if Mbappe’s contract is up in 2022 so PSG have to sign him or move him on this summer. Would have to be Real Madrid wouldn’t it?

I don’t think Kane’s going anywhere ... well, maybe ManU.
Mbappe for Kane swap

I'd think that more swaps would make sense this window, after seeing tons of loans last year?
 

Tuff Ghost

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Ornstein and The Athletic pour a little bit of cool water over the Kane talk with this article today, which implies that an exit in the summer of 2022 would be more likely.
There has been no meeting between Kane and Levy over the last few days in which the England captain revealed his position. The club have known how the 27-year-old has felt for weeks, if not for the whole season. But Tottenham have been consistent in their position for even longer than that: that Kane, who has scored 220 goals for his boyhood side, is not for sale at any price.
The view of the Tottenham hierarchy is that there is absolutely no chance of Kane leaving this summer, and especially not to any Premier League rival. They see Kane, who is competing to win his third Premier League Golden Boot in six seasons, as utterly irreplaceable and therefore do not see any value in letting him go.
Manchester City enquired after him in the summer of 2020 and Levy turned them down. Kane wanted to go but was told by Levy to give him one more year. The player believes that this entitles him to a move this coming summer, but Levy is not going to give him what he wants.
He may be desperate to go, but Tottenham are just as determined not to sell him. And while in pre-pandemic football it was plausible that a superclub would pay £120 million or more to sign a player in his late 20s to take them to the next level, that feels much less likely to happen this summer.
That is why multiple sources have talked of the possibility of Kane doing one more year in the Spurs shirt and then being allowed to go in the summer of 2022, when he will still have two years left on his contract.
 

Tuff Ghost

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To follow-up on that, I had to spend a few minutes going through Kane's remarkable career.

He has scored 0.74 goals per 90 minutes in his 9 Premier League seasons with Tottenham. Over that time period, he has scored at a higher rate than several clubs, below are a few examples, just going back the past 4 years:

2020-21 Sheffield United: 0.50 G/90
2020-21 Fulham: 0.69 G/90
2019-20 Norwich City: 0.66 G/90
2018-19 Huddersfield Town: 0.53 G/90
2017-18 Swansea City: 0.71 G/90
2017-18 Huddersfield Town: 0.66 G/90

In 2016-17, Kane scored 1.04 G/90 (29 goals), which was better than 7 other Premier League team total goals/90 that season.

I know people change shirts all of the time, but, man, he would be a strange one to see playing for another Premier League team (less so if he leaves for another league, such as Ligue 1 with PSG).
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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Considering this some more, I think the smart move for Spurs probably would be to sell Kane as long as they could get something like £100-120m for him. I'm not confident Levy would sell at that price (especially the low end) but I would probably do it if I were him. Kane is almost irreplaceable and it would make them almost certainly worse in the short term. But there are some pretty big contextual factors that favor a sale now.

-Even if the market rebounds overall, Kane will be worth less next summer simply due to age. Kane is about to turn 28 and has a bad injury history. Nobody has ever been sold for > €100m at age 29 and the closest comps (Hazard and Griezmann sold at 28, Higuain sold for €90m at 29) are all huge cautionary tales. There is also non-negligible risk of him picking up a big injury and/or having a big performance decline and his asset value cratering.

-Conversely, this summer will be a great time to be a buyer. Right now clubs across Europe are deep in the shit financially. Many will be forced to sell talented young players at prices far below what they would have gone for pre-Covid. That might not be the case in 12 months.

-If Spurs are serious about getting a new manager who will really turn the page, it makes little sense to bring him on board knowing that a rebuild will be occurring but to hit the pause button for a year. A new manager playing a new style needs new signings who can play that style and the only way to fund those signings will be selling Kane. And it will be awkward to set up a team that will inevitably revolve around Kane only to completely change everything 12 months later.

Basically, which scenario is better?

(a) Sell Kane for £110m, allowing a new manager to buy 4-5 really interesting new players in the best buyer's market we'll ever see, start building a new team in earnest.

(b) Muddle through with Kane for another year, probably end up in exactly the same area of the table while the new manager struggles to implement a new system, then sell Kane for £70m in summer 2022 and use the money for at best two other players.
 

coremiller

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Considering this some more, I think the smart move for Spurs probably would be to sell Kane as long as they could get something like £100-120m for him. I'm not confident Levy would sell at that price (especially the low end) but I would probably do it if I were him. Kane is almost irreplaceable and it would make them almost certainly worse in the short term. But there are some pretty big contextual factors that favor a sale now.

-Even if the market rebounds overall, Kane will be worth less next summer simply due to age. Kane is about to turn 28 and has a bad injury history. Nobody has ever been sold for > €100m at age 29 and the closest comps (Hazard and Griezmann sold at 28, Higuain sold for €90m at 29) are all huge cautionary tales. There is also non-negligible risk of him picking up a big injury and/or having a big performance decline and his asset value cratering.

-Conversely, this summer will be a great time to be a buyer. Right now clubs across Europe are deep in the shit financially. Many will be forced to sell talented young players at prices far below what they would have gone for pre-Covid. That might not be the case in 12 months.

-If Spurs are serious about getting a new manager who will really turn the page, it makes little sense to bring him on board knowing that a rebuild will be occurring but to hit the pause button for a year. A new manager playing a new style needs new signings who can play that style and the only way to fund those signings will be selling Kane. And it will be awkward to set up a team that will inevitably revolve around Kane only to completely change everything 12 months later.

Basically, which scenario is better?

(a) Sell Kane for £110m, allowing a new manager to buy 4-5 really interesting new players in the best buyer's market we'll ever see, start building a new team in earnest.

(b) Muddle through with Kane for another year, probably end up in exactly the same area of the table while the new manager struggles to implement a new system, then sell Kane for £70m in summer 2022 and use the money for at best two other players.
This is probably right, but I don't see anyone paying 110m for Kane this summer either. And I think Levy would probably demand something closer to 150m.

Also the Mourinho and especially the ESL debacles have really hurt Levy's standing with the fans and selling Kane would be another blow on that front. Not sure he's up for a third PR disaster in six months.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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This is probably right, but I don't see anyone paying 110m for Kane this summer either. And I think Levy would probably demand something closer to 150m.

Also the Mourinho and especially the ESL debacles have really hurt Levy's standing with the fans and selling Kane would be another blow on that front. Not sure he's up for a third PR disaster in six months.
Fully agreed. I think its just a weird market situation where the bid price that makes sense for even the wealthiest buyers simply isn't going to intersect with the sale price that makes sense for this particular seller.
 

scott bankheadcase

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This is probably right, but I don't see anyone paying 110m for Kane this summer either. And I think Levy would probably demand something closer to 150m.

Also the Mourinho and especially the ESL debacles have really hurt Levy's standing with the fans and selling Kane would be another blow on that front. Not sure he's up for a third PR disaster in six months.
Honestly with the amount of time left on his contract, Levy SHOULD be getting 150 for him. Anything less than that, he's worth more to Spurs.
 

Kliq

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Maybe not Jadon Sancho who’s a classic wide forward .. But Mbappe plays all over the front line.

I think I was thinking in terms of very expensive forwards.
PSG (and Poch, obviously) have traditionally played with a classic #9, along with Neymar/Mbappe, whether it was Zlatan, Cavani or Icardi/Kean. I suspect that given their shortcomings this season they would be interested in upgrading the Icardi/Kean spot.

If Kane stayed healthy he could score 40 goals for PSG in Ligue 1.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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Kane gave an interview with Gary Neville that was released today. He doesn't come straight out and say he wants to leave, but he says he wants to leave.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j30nEIZU0WA&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=TheOverlap
Yup, that's saying you want to leave about as clearly as you can without actually saying it.

"He (Levy) might want to sell me!"

Kane and City really do make a ton of sense for each other. I thought that was pretty implicit in the part of the interview where he talks about wanting to be the best player he can possibly be, to see how many goals he can score, what level he can achieve, etc. If he played for a team that creates chances by the boatload, could he break Salah's record of 32 Premier League goals in a season? Fuck, could he score 40? I bet he wonders.
 

Kliq

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I don't think Kane would be healthy and play enough minutes at this stage of his career to break a scoring record, although 33 goals is possible in the right situation. One of the allures for Kane going to a club like City or United is that he wouldn't have to play every single game and could rest here and there to prolong his career.
 

Jimy Hendrix

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I don't think Kane would be healthy and play enough minutes at this stage of his career to break a scoring record, although 33 goals is possible in the right situation. One of the allures for Kane going to a club like City or United is that he wouldn't have to play every single game and could rest here and there to prolong his career.
The counterpoint might be that if he’s got a manager with the firepower and star power to rest him every few games, he might avoid his annual 4 - 12 week ankle and come out ahead in a season overall in terms of games played.
 

Kliq

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A move to City with some relatively normal health luck, and the Premier League scoring title becomes an alluring possibility for him.
View attachment 41266
Via: https://theanalyst.com/eu/2021/05/the-analysis-may-16/
I think he wants the scoring record very, very badly, and one of the main reasons he supposedly would only want to stay in England if he were to move clubs. If he can avoid any really devastating injuries he has a good chance because his game should age relatively gracefully since he doesn't rely really at all on pace and has good size.
 

coremiller

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I don't think Kane would be healthy and play enough minutes at this stage of his career to break a scoring record, although 33 goals is possible in the right situation. One of the allures for Kane going to a club like City or United is that he wouldn't have to play every single game and could rest here and there to prolong his career.
From what I remember reading, Kane playing every game is more an issue of him insisting on playing every game and getting upset when he doesn't rather than his managers running him into the ground. I could see the opposite problem actually, where Guardiola's squad rotation frustrates him because he always wants to play. Although maybe he'll feel differently once he gets closer to 30.
 

Zomp

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He won't be that frustrated when he's hoisting trophies.


I'd love for United to sign him, I mean which club wouldn't want him, but he's perfect for City.
 

Kliq

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From what I remember reading, Kane playing every game is more an issue of him insisting on playing every game and getting upset when he doesn't rather than his managers running him into the ground. I could see the opposite problem actually, where Guardiola's squad rotation frustrates him because he always wants to play. Although maybe he'll feel differently once he gets closer to 30.
I think that it's both. Kane insists on playing every game and the manager is more inclined to agree with him when the alternatives are Vincent Janssen and Fernando Llorente.
 

67YAZ

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Harry had the leverage to get playing time guarantees in a contract. And Pep has the stature and security to negotiate that clause realistically. Would be fun to be privy to those discussions.

On a related note, whither Messi? On top of the cost, Kane’s style of play would seem to preempt a Messi signing for City.
 

teddykgb

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The bigger concern is that it would preempt Haaland. Then everyone else gets a free run at him likely next summer.
I can understand why Kane would want City and can see where City would want Kane but realistically he’s probably Citys second choice and it would take a long awful negotiation to get Halaand out of Dortmund. This really has the potential to drag out.

City have generally preferred players who don’t drum up a bidding war. If Kane starts to somehow message City and only City then I’d be far more likely to see this getting done.
 

Zomp

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Does Guardiola deal with Raiola? I was under the impression he doesn’t. Though I guess for a talent like Haaland you deal with whoever you have to.
I agree that Haaland is preferable to Kane solely because of age but I wonder if Pep is thinking that far ahead. Kane should still be in his prime for 3-4 more seasons. Say he goes to City and Pep manages him for all of them, it would be Pep’s longest stint at a club by some distance.