Summary
Daniel Levy's reign as Tottenham chairman has seen its fair share of ups and downs.
Levy nearly made one of the biggest mistakes of his career involving Harry Kane.
The striker was almost sold before becoming a club legend.
Regardless of whether they are competing for a place in Europe's elite competition, or floundering in mid-table or even lower, one thing is certain when it comes to Tottenham Hotspur over the last quarter of a century: everything goes through Daniel Levy. The Spurs chairman has hardly made himself a popular figure since being introduced to the club in 2001, but it is because of him that some of the biggest landmarks in their history have taken place.
Without Levy, Spurs may not be home to one of the most brilliant stadiums in all of Europe. Managers like Harry Redknapp and Mauricio Pochettino may have never stepped through the doors in North London and helped progress the club to a genuine member of the Premier League's big six. For all the frustration that surrounds him, there's no doubt he has brought plenty of positives.
That is not to say that every decision he has wanted to make has been a success. But perhaps none have been as catastrophic as the one he almost made on Harry Kane. Kane is a bona fide Tottenham legend, having broken the club's all-time goalscoring record and emerged as one of the greatest number nines of his generation while representing the Lilywhites. However, things could have looked very different for both him and Spurs had Levy gotten his way.
Former Spurs Manager Reveals That Levy Wanted to Sell Kane
The striker's valuation was incredibly low at the time
Someone who has more experience than most in dealing with Levy is former Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood. A former Premier League winner as a player at Blackburn, the ex-midfielder took over at White Hart Lane having been the club's assistant between 2008-2013. Among things that Sherwood was credited with was rediscovering Emmanuel Adebayor's former, as the former Arsenal and Manchester City striker had well and truly fallen down the pecking order at the club.
He was also one of the first people to give Harry Kane his break in the Spurs first team. Up until the 2013/14 season, the Englishman had failed to pull up any trees and had featured in some rather unremarkable loan spells for the likes of Norwich City and Leicester.
Safe to say, not many would've predicted what would become of the finisher, least of all Levy. Sherwood revealed in an interview with Simon Jordan that Spurs actually received an offer for Kane worth £600,000. Better yet, the chairman wanted to accept it.
"It's 100% true. I walk off the training pitch on a Friday and say to Harry 'you're going to play tomorrow.' And he looked at me as if to say 'about time.' As soon as I got into the training complex, Franco Baldini comes over to me and says to me 'the chairman wants to see you.'
"He escorts me to his office and he asks me 'what's the team tomorrow?' I knew what was coming. As soon as I mentioned Harry he says: 'Not Soldado? Not Ade?' I say, 'no no, Harry.' Then he proceeded to tell me that they're not sure he's Premier League standard."
Sherwood went on to say that it was Baldini's (former technical director) opinion that Kane was not good enough to lead the line for Spurs and that they were prepared to accept the bid from Leicester.
Sherwood would end up ignoring suggestions that the Englishman shouldn't play and the rest, as they say, is history.
GIVEMESPORT Key Statistic: Kane scored three goals and managed two assists in 13 games under Sherwood.
Kane Sold For £86.4 Million to Bayern
Spurs received 14,000% more than what they nearly sold Kane for
In the end, Levy will be counting his pennies and pounds in glee after not making what would’ve been a costly mistake by selling Kane at that period of time. After developing into a truly world-class striker, Kane would eventually leave the club in 2023 to join Bayern Munich as he searched for silverware that had slipped his grasp up until that point.
The fee was reported to be around £86.4 million for the striker's services, which was exactly a 14,000% increase from the £600,000 Spurs were initially willing to sell him for. It made Kane the second-highest sale in the club's history, while also making him one of the most expensive players ever in British football.