Ole Gunnar Solskjaer gave very little away when questioned about Manchester United’s reported interest in Tottenham Hotspur star Harry Kane on Tuesday, and even labelled it 'disrespectful' to talk about another club’s player.
Spurs' lack of trophies since his emergence as a world class striker has understandably frustrated Kane, and talk of him leaving could yet prove to be the biggest transfer saga of the summer.
football.london reported earlier this week that the striker has not directly asked to depart at this stage and his deep connection with the club he has been at since the age of 11 suggests that he won’t formally ask to do so. However, Tottenham’s lack of silverware is prompting Kane to consider a new challenge this summer.
Both of the big Manchester clubs are rumoured to be interested in securing the striker’s services, and Solskjaer didn’t rule out a move when questioned about the possible transfer on Tuesday evening.
“I can’t talk about players that are in other teams,” Solskjaer told Sky Sports. “I think you know me well enough; I don’t think that’s very respectful of any team, any players.”
The United boss even jokingly namedropped Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, in what was an additional attempt to explain that it wouldn’t be right to talk about a player who is on another club’s books.
“There’s loads of good players out there: I could say Messi is interesting, and Ronaldo, but I can’t talk about them," Solskjaer added.
Nevertheless, that statement didn’t exactly deny an outright interest in Kane. United have of course recently tied down Edinson Cavani to a new one-year contract, but the Uruguayan will be 35 next year and that fact could impact their long-term transfer plans.
What is clear is that it’ll be difficult for any club who goes in for Kane as Daniel Levy is a notoriously shrewd negotiator. So if United, Chelsea or Manchester City want to sign him, they’ll have to most likely table a figure in excess of £150m, and then hope that Spurs, and of course Levy, agree to it.
