Ben Wylie

Fri 21 April 2023 8:10, UK

With rumours that Harry Kane is nearing a move away from Tottenham, Paris Saint-Germain are the latest club to be linked with the Englishman.

Since breaking into the side as a “one-season wonder” back in 2014/15, Kane has been a behemoth in Tottenham’s attack, ending all but one season as the club’s tops top scorer and winning the Premier League Golden Boot on three occasions (Premier League).

Naturally, his success on the global stage has attracted the attention of several of Europe’s top clubs, with Manchester City coming close to signing Kane back in the summer of 2021, and Bayern Munich holding an interest in the forward last summer.

However, the notoriously fickle Daniel Levy has always been quick to ward off interest in his star man, but according to French outlet Le Parisien, PSG is keen to lure the Englishman to Paris.

There’s no doubt as far as Tottenham is concerned, Kane is irreplaceable – that in truth goes without saying.

This season has been one filled with milestones for Kane, becoming both Tottenham and England’s all-time top scorers, and reaching the 20-goal mark for an eighth consecutive season; an unprecedented achievement (Transfermarkt).

It’s no secret that as a club, Tottenham have been reliant on Kane – maybe overly so, and with the exception of the ageing Heung Min-Son are generally lacking another elite creative outlet, so to lose the Englishman would be disastrous.

That being said, Kane’s contract is set to expire at the end of next season, so like it or not, Levy may well be forced into a sale if he wants to receive any kind of fee for the forward, but it would undoubtedly see Spurs suffer.

In signing Richarlison for a near club-record fee at the start of the season, Tottenham finally looked to have eased at least some of the attacking burden from Kane; welcoming a proven Premier League goal scorer.

Having previously turned out for both Watford and Everton, the Brazilian boasted a respectable record of 48 Premier League goals and 22 assists in 173 appearances; a record that whilst hardly comparable to Kane’s is still that of a competent forward (Transfermarkt).

Moreover, having previously played for lower-quality sides, it was expected that in an apparently more dominant side such as Spurs, Richarlison’s output would only grow, but that has been far from the case.

It’s been lost on no one; the forward is having a torrid season.

Despite making 20 appearances, the Brazilian is yet to score a league goal, and whilst he has offered impact off the bench at times it’s clearly a heavy burden on his shoulders.

His only goals for Spurs have come in the Champions League, netting a brace in Tottenham’s opening game against Marseille with two late headers, but out with that he’s had little to cherish.

Granted, injuries have played their part, and regardless of what’s been said, Richarlison is clearly a quality player, he showed as much in leading the line for Brazil in the World Cup scoring three goals – one of which was an excellent acrobatic effort.

However, even at his best, Richarlison is unlike Kane in more ways than one, a sad but simple reality for Tottenham fans to digest.

Comparing the duo as “out and out” strikers, Richarlison takes fewer shots, gets fewer shots on target, generates less shot creating actions, receives fewer progressive passes per game, and perhaps most importantly, puts up significantly less non-penalty xG per 90 than his superior – 0.32 to Kane’s 0.81 (FB Ref).

But that’s to be expected. Kane has cemented his status as one of the world’s most prolific, dependable forwards over the last 10 years – the same cannot be said for Richarlison.

And it doesn’t stop there; Kane offers more than just goals to Tottenham.

In recent years, Kane has been Spurs’ standout goal scorer and creator, regularly dropping deep to involve himself in play, shown by his tendency to make 2.67 passes into the final third, 1.38 key passes, and take an impressive 35.82 touches per 90, and accumulating a massive 63 career assists in for the Lilywhites (FB Ref).

This phenomenon that sees Kane act as Spurs’ chief creator is indeed that – a phenomenon, as outside of Lionel Messi at Barcelona, it’s hard to draw another comparison in modern football.

For Spurs, whilst this has certainly been a blessing if the Englishman was to leave the club, it would almost leave two irreplaceable voids, that of a goal scorer and a creator.

Granted, if Richarlison were to play through the middle his goal drought would be unlikely to continue, but it’s equally farfetched to consider he could consistently score at a rate of 20+ goals per season, something fans take for granted under Kane.

There’s no doubt that if Kane were indeed to leave Tottenham, be that to Paris or otherwise, Spurs would duly suffer, as eight years on the one-season-wonder is continuing to defy expectations, break records, and terrorise defences.

In other Tottenham news, this is why Spurs should move for AC Milan’s Fikayo Tomori this summer