There is no active men's soccer star more synonymous with his club than Harry Kane and Tottenham Hotspur. He came through the club's academy at age 11, he wears the captain's armband and he has been the team's best player and top scorer for the last seven seasons. His play for Tottenham and a reputation as a model pro has led to his emergence as the English national team captain.
And Kane is well-compensated for all that. He signed a six-year deal with the club in 2018 that gives him a reported $275,000 a week (including bonuses). So with three years left on his contract, a new coach and a recently opened stadium, why would the face of the club want out?
This summer's transfer saga, which is now in its fourth month, has had plenty of twists and turns — and it will continue until the transfer window closes on Aug. 31. Here's where things are at and what led us to this point:
Why Harry Kane wants to leave
Kane didn't need to sign that six-year contract in June 2018. He was already on a long-term deal at the time that was set to expire in the summer of 2022, and he was turning 25 in 2018, which was an in-his-prime age to make a move to another club if he were so inclined. Had he not extended his stay, Tottenham would have probably been forced to cash in and transfer him before the final season of that deal.
But it made sense to sign another long deal. Kane was able to double his salary, and Spurs were a club on the rise at the time. He wanted to be the one to help finally end the trophy drought at Tottenham (dating back to 2008) and cement its place in the Premier League's Top 4.
Things were looking promising at Tottenham. In June 2018, Spurs had just finished in third place in the Premier League, never dropping below fifth place since Kane's breakthrough season in 2014-15. With one of the top young managers in global soccer (Mauricio Pochettino) and a young core leading the way, Spurs were a rising force on the European scene, and there was little not to like about the club. A year after signing the six-year deal, Kane and Pochettino led Spurs to the UEFA Champions League final.
It looked like it was only the beginning for Spurs, but things unraveled less than two years later, beginning with the surprising dismissal of Pochettino in November 2019 during a tough stretch of results. Spurs have since failed to finish in the top four in England in two seasons, thus missing out each time on qualification for the Champions League, the most prestigious and lucrative club soccer competition in the world.
With no Champions League prospects and the future seemingly bleak — Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool are clearly a cut above Spurs on paper — the now 28-year-old Kane is running out of time in his career to win trophies and with Spurs in a "rebuilding phase," according to Kane, he feels a move away is the only way to do it.
"I don't want to come to the end of my career and have any regrets. So I want to be the best that I can be. I can even be better than what I've been at the moment," Kane told Gary Neville in a revealing blockbuster interview prior to this summer's Euro 2021 tournament. "My aim is to be winning trophies season in and season out."
