View: The financial benefit of selling Harry Kane is too good to ignore for Tottenham
Tottenham and Daniel Levy run the risk of letting Harry Kane walk away on a free next summer.
Whichever way you look at it, Spurs losing their all-time record goalscorer on a free would be absolutely devastating. That is a very real scenario they face if they keep hold of their star striker this season.
While fans would love to see Kane give it one more year in a Tottenham shirt and consequently have one more chance to lift a trophy in Spurs colours, it would not be good for business.
It is very unlikely the club will win the Premier League next year – near impossible, even. A run at the top four could be achievable but there is no guarantee they will make that either. Without either of those things, Spurs will make very little money from performance-based bonuses.
Keeping Kane, therefore, would likely not be to compete for major honours, but would purely be sentimental and perhaps a last-gasp attempt at convincing ‘one of their own’ to sign a new contract. The likelihood is he won’t and will walk away from the club next summer for free.
That is something Daniel Levy can not allow to happen and would represent a true failure.
Not only would the club lose out on the potential £80-100million fee they could realistically command for their best player, but it would mean paying Kane’s wages for another year.
That year would cost the club no less than £10million with the striker, who saw his net worth increase this year by £9million to a total of £51million, currently on £200,000 a week according to The Times (19 May).
This means Spurs keeping hold of Kane could see the club lose out on between £90-110million. Is this really worth it?
If Kane is going to leave next season anyway, surely it is best for Tottenham to use that £100million to reinvest in the squad, especially considering the hole the England captain would leave behind.
As well as the money it would cost to keep Kane for the extra year, the money they would make is not worth the hit.
Tottenham made a total revenue of £444million for the year ending June 2022, according to financial data posted to the official club website (10 February).
£106.1million was from match receipts. This would likely not change much with or without Kane with fans loyal to the club, not the player, and likely to fill the stadium either way.
TV and media revenues would not change and Spurs’ status as a ‘big six’ side would likely continue to see them command high fees and feature regularly on the telly.
Finally, the £183.5million the club made through commercial revenue is also unlikely to change. Sponsorship deals will stay the same and while shirt sales may perhaps see a slight decrease without their main man, Kane has no influence on one of the club’s biggest commercial winners, external events taking place at the stadium.
Concerts, NFL and other major events will continue with or without Kane and likely only increase in frequency. Beyonce just did five nights in the stadium, her decision to do so was certainly not swayed by Kane.
The truth is, much to the frustration of fans, a lot of Spurs’ financial success and focus is off the field currently and the strides the club are beginning to make will only continue, whether or not Kane stays.
The England captain won’t bring in anywhere near the £100million the club are set to lose by letting him go for free and if he is to leave in a year anyway, he needs to leave now.
The money can be used to rebuild the squad and it would mean Tottenham can also have some control over where the player goes.
No one needs to see Kane join Pochettino at Chelsea for free in 12 months. Levy would no longer be welcome in Tottenham if that happens.
In other Tottenham news, the club should be making the signing of this defender a priority.