Harry Kane, Wilfried Zaha, Paul Pogba and the Future of the Transfer Market
Long-term contracts and running down deals are two strategies massively at odds with each other. This Summer shows where the wind is blowing
The new Premier League season gets underway next Friday and Harry Kane is currently in Florida.
No, the league hasn’t decided to move games to America… yet. Instead, the England captain is on holiday as he tries to force a move to Manchester City.
His teammates are currently in training for pre-season as they prepare to face that same Man City next Sunday. But, whatever happens between now and then, they will have to do so without their talisman.
Kane scored 19 non-penalty goals last season. More impressively, and importantly, he averaged 0.96 non-penalty goals and assists per 90 through the entire campaign.
Despite Kane putting in the best numbers of anyone in the division, Spurs battled to only seventh place. Manager Jose Mourinho was sacked and the club lost the League Cup final to, you guessed it, Man City.
For someone with such amazing talent, and has the numbers to back up that talent, it is very easy to see why the 28-year old will be frustrated at the lack of silverware to his name.
Kane has come second in the league, lost a Champions League final, lost a League Cup final and reached the semi finals of the FA Cup during his time at Tottenham, but has naught to show for it.
Pushing for a move to the current league holders makes a lot of sense. Pep Guardiola’s side just added Jack Grealish to their squad. Grealish was the best player in the league last season outside of the traditional Big Six clubs.
In fact, Grealish was as important to Aston Villa as Kane is to Tottenham. So why could City sign the Englishman but Kane is still stuck in Florida?
One thing both players have in common is that they both signed big, long contracts with their boyhood clubs. However, while Kane had a “gentleman’s agreement,” with Daniel Levy, Grealish had it in writing on his contract that he could leave for a certain price.
It was confirmed by Villa’s CEO Christian Purslow that there was a £100 million release clause in Grealish’s contract, which facilitated a relatively smooth transfer for the player.
Meanwhile, Kane and Levy don’t see eye-to-eye on the terms of that supposed agreement the two have from when the player signed a ludicrous six-year deal in 2018.
Elsewhere in the transfer window, Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe are both the centre of contract negotiation stories. Both are entering the final year of their deals and have suitors abroad. These players hold all the cards, their future is in their hands.
Pogba is reportedly on £290,000 a week at Manchester United, but the bargaining power he now has means he stands to earn an even bigger contract. Whether it’s at United, Paris Saint-Germain, or even Real Madrid doesn’t particularly matter at this point.
At 28-years old, the Frenchman is reaching the end of his prime years so this could be his last opportunity to earn a big pay-day at a Champions League contending club.
Pogba could yet still stay at United, but it will be because he signs a big contract extension equivalent to what PSG were willing to pay. This leverage that Pogba has in negotiations is massively powerful and is surely the future of player transfers.
Mbappe finds himself in the exact same situation at PSG. Real Madrid are doing everything in their power to convince the 22-year old to join the Spanish club in 12 months, but if PSG are set to sign Lionel Messi then perhaps Mbappe will decide to stay in France instead. The world is truly his oyster.
One player not involved in any transfer rumours this Summer is Wilfried Zaha. In 2018, the Crystal Palace player signed a five year deal that 12 months later prevented him from signing for the likes of Everton and Arsenal, or maybe even Liverpool.
Since then, there has been little talk of a big money move as the momentum has stalled on his career.
Palace have gone backwards and new stars have emerged. Zaha has fallen far down the pecking order of the top talent the big clubs are searching for. There are still two years left on his contract and by then he will be 30-years old and in all likelihood the chance of a career-defining move will be gone.
By the time Kane’s deal runs out in 2024, he will be just turning 31. It’s possible that he will still be a top player by that stage, but his value will be way too diminished to earn the kind of money he could be making at Man City this Summer if he had the same options Pogba and Mbappe had.
To cut Kane some slack, the man he has entrusted with looking after this side of his career is his brother Charlie Kane.
While there is a certain romance to two brothers working in tandem to further each other’s careers, this really doesn’t compare to Pogba’s agent Mino Raiola.
Raiola is one of the most powerful men in football and he knows it. Pogba couldn’t have a better advisor by his side at a time like this.
But this is just another way in which Pogba has been able to further his career when Kane looks like he’s about to stall. He had the sense to bring in a super-agent, while Kane stood by his brother.
Pogba is currently preparing for the new season by taking to the training pitch with his teammates at Man United. The player and the club, together, are getting on with things peacefully while Raiola handles everything.
Meanwhile, Kane is still stuck in Florida unhappy and frustrated.
