There is little prospect of a resolution to Harry Kane’s standoff with Tottenham Hotspur after England manager Gareth Southgate said that he does not expect any transfer activity during the European Championship.
The national team captain has stressed his desire to win silverware and does not feel Spurs are currently equipped to compete for top honours, although with three years remaining on his contract there are doubts over how easy it will be for him to force his way out.
Southgate named a 33-man provisional squad earlier today, which will be trimmed to 26 on June 1, and said he has no concerns about his leading scorer's focus for a tournament in which England will host the semi-finals and final
And his belief that there will be no movement during the tournament is likely to strengthen the hand of Spurs chairman Daniel Levy, who is reluctant to move on his prized asset and may end up placing an asking price of close to £200m on the 27-year-old.
“I don’t need to have a conversation with Harry Kane regarding focus or professionalism,” Southgate said. “He has got one goal while with us and that’s to win the European Championship. We know how important that is at this moment in time.
“What’s going on at his club is a matter for him and Tottenham. He’s obviously made some statements in the last few days. In many respects that’s out of the way now and I think - talking across the board here - it’s very unlikely that transfers will be done while we’re away.
“That’s different in our camps in September because very often we’re on that deadline and then we’ve had to help facilitate a medical or a meeting between a player and a manager. I’m very realistic about those things. We’re not going to stop phones ringing, we’re not going to control conversations that are going on in private.
“But I expect most deals are done at the end of tournaments or the first week after the season. I’d expect anything across the board with our players to be done after the tournament.”
Kane’s preference is to remain in the Premier League, complicating his potential sale further. Manchester City, who enquired about Kane’s availability last summer, are the frontrunners to sign him.
Chelsea are on the lookout for another goalscorer but Levy will be even more reluctant to send him to one of Spurs’ biggest rivals, while Manchester United are the other candidates.
At the end of a Premier League campaign in which he was both top scorer (23) and the leader in assists (14), Southgate said that he has long known about the skipper’s creative ability. All that has changed is Spurs, who finished seventh in the table, relied on him even more than in the past.
“I think Harry has always just had that capability as a player,” the England manager added. “He's been able to play from a very young age as a No9 or No10.
"Clearly that's been more pronounced this year in terms of the numbers, there were certain games like the game at Southampton where he created four for Son so there's a clear pattern in their team that's consistently worked and been a great provider of goals for them.
“But with us, for a centre forward who is such an outstanding goalscorer he has a fabulous weight of pass and great vision to see those passes. He's an all-round outstanding player.”
