Next summer, Tottenham Hotspur could be presented with the chance to sign Harry Kane, with his release clause of around £57m set to kick in.
Tottenham Hotspur are well aware of Kane’s situation at Bayern Munich and would jump at the chance to bring him back to N17.
But, TBR Football exclusively revealed that the North London club are set to face competition from Real Madrid for Kane’s signature, along with Bayern, Chelsea, Man United and Barcelona.
Of course, a move for the 32-year-old would not come cheaply, so to assess whether Spurs could actually afford to re-sign the striker, TBR Football has spoken to the site’s financial expert, Adam Williams, to find out more.
Tottenham paying £57m could still prove great value for Harry Kane
Harry Kane remains arguably the best striker in world football right now, so despite his age, Tottenham Hotspur could still find decent value in paying £57m to bring him back.
Williams told TBR Football: “£57m for a 33-year-old looks like an extortionate sum on first reading, but elite-level footballers are playing longer these days. Harry Kane looks after himself.
“He’s one of the ultimate pros, and I’m sure he’s invested a lot – both financially and psychologically – in keeping himself in the best possible condition to keep his career going as long as possible.
“He may rely on his physicality less than other players of his vintage, which probably means he has more left to give even if his body starts to slow down. At 33, he’s still the one, if not the best striker in the world.
“I’m no expert on tactics or anything like that, so I can’t say whether or not he would fit in with what the football department are planning at Spurs, but commercially, a return to Tottenham for Kane would clearly be a huge success. He’s going to sell a lot of shirts, attract a lot of sponsors and so on.”
Tottenham’s £337m transfer debt could be hurdle in signing Harry Kane
Kane earns a rather extraordinary £400,000 per week at Bayern, which is double Spurs’ current highest earners, who are Xavi Simons and Cristian Romero, both on £195,000 per week.
Williams suggests that one way the Lilywhites could get around that figure is by offering him a highly incentivised contract.
“He is on £400,000 per week at Bayern, but I imagine it might be more of an incentivised contract if he came back to North London, although clearly with a very high basic wage too, of course. That would insulate Spurs a little bit,” added Williams.
“Germany also has slightly higher tax in the top bracket than the UK, so there might be a little bit of room for manoeuvre on salary there too. Then again, there are a million variables when we start to get into the discussions of the relative financial benefits of each country.
“I have no doubt that if Spurs wanted to make a deal happen, they could easily afford £400,000 per week, it would be a question of whether it would be the best use of their money.
“ENIC don’t look like they’re putting any more money into the club at this stage, so they’ll want to get the best return on every pound they spend. They’ll look at it through a cost-benefit lens, not a sentimental one.”
One potential hurdle in bringing him back to North London would be the fact that Tottenham’s current transfer debt stands at £337m.
TBR Football’s financial expert continued: “The transfer fee also probably wouldn’t be a problem – just look at what they spent this summer. One thing they will be conscious of is transfer debt, however, which is very, very high at Spurs. It was £337m at the last count, which was the second highest in the league behind Chelsea. Sometimes a release clause can specify that it has to be paid in one go, but there are ways around that. You can go through a transfer creditor, for example.
“Instalments are a perfectly logical way to pay for transfers, but if your debt keeps increasing faster than revenue, that’s not really sustainable in the long term. That is not something that would inherently stop them from signing a player like Kane, though, of course, he’s not going to have any resale value at this stage in his career.”