Harry Kane has reportedly shaken hands on a £400,000-a-week deal with Manchester City after Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy caved and agreed to let him join a direct Premier League rival.
The 27-year-old striker first signalled his intention to leave Spurs back in May before joining up with England for the European Championships but City’s opening bid of £100million was swiftly rejected by the north London club, with Levy only willing to let the player move overseas.
Kane’s England team-mates believed he could even be prepared to snub Tottenham pre-season training in order to force through a switch to the Etihad, with the frustrated Three Lions captain desperate to start adding major silverware to his trophyless CV.
However, according to The Sun, there is no longer any need for Kane to go on strike after Tottenham decided to change their stance. It’s claimed the forward is now poised to complete a switch to Pep Guardiola’s champions for an eye-watering fee of £160m.
The report suggests Levy informed Kane about his change of heart in a bombshell phone call last Friday and the attacker ‘told of his joy’ while best man at the wedding of his elder brother, Charlie, who acts as his agent.
Kane – who registered both the most goals (23) and the most assists (14) in the English top flight last term – will put pen to paper on either a four or five-year contract in the north west.
The 2018 World Cup Golden Boot winner will be expected to fill the void left by City legend Sergio Aguero, who brought an end to his decade-long stay to join Barcelona this summer.
A £160m deal would see City obliterate the current Premier League transfer record held by Manchester United and Paul Pogba, who returned to Old Trafford from Juventus for a mammoth fee of £89m back in 2016.
In the history of football, only Neymar (£198m) and Kylian Mbappe (£163m) have commanded higher fees.
Most expensive transfers in football history
Neymar (Barcelona to PSG) – £198m
Kylian Mbappe (Monaco to PSG) – £163m
Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool to Barcelona) – £105m
Joao Felix (Benfica to Atletico Madrid) – £114m
Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid to Barcelona) – £107m
Ousmane Dembele (Borussia Dortmund to Barcelona) – £97m
Paul Pogba (Juventus to Manchester United) – £89m
Eden Hazard (Chelsea to Real Madrid) – £89m
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid to Juventus) – £88m
Gareth Bale (Tottenham to Real Madrid) – £86m
Earlier this month, Guardiola played down the mounting speculation linking Kane with City and suggested a deal was ‘impossible’ at the prices being quoted in the media.
‘At the prices we are not going to buy any strikers. It is impossible, we cannot afford it,’ the City head coach told reporters.
‘All clubs are struggling financially; we are not an exception. We have Gabriel [Jesus] and Ferran [Torres] who have been incredible in this position.
‘We have young players in the academy and we play many times with a false nine.
‘There is more of a chance we aren’t going to buy a striker for next season.’
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