Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has warned striker Harry Kane he will protect the club’s interests in the transfer market this summer.
Kane is understood to have told Spurs he wants to leave in the search of trophies after becoming frustrated at the club’s lack of progress in recent years and Manchester City are reported to be keen on buying him.
But Spurs are intent on keeping their star man, who has three years left on his contract, and it would take a fee north of £150million for the club to even consider changing their stance.
Levy, who on Saturday appointed Fabio Paratici as the club’s new managing director of football, sympathises with Kane’s frustrations but hinted a deal could be difficult to do.
📺 An update from Chairman Daniel Levy.
#THFC ⚪️ #COYS pic.twitter.com/4NZkhcToUZAdvertisement— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) June 12, 2021
“I am never going to talk about any specific player in public,” Levy said on the club’s official website.
“All I will say is his frustrations in not winning are shared by me and all the fans and players. We all want to win.
“One of the items that Fabio will have to deal with when he comes in is which players are going to be retained, which will be asked to look for other clubs.
“There is a market out there. What we want and what other clubs want is not always possible to achieve. We will do whatever is right for the club.”
Paratici recently left Juventus after a trophy-laden 11 years where he helped turn the Turin club into the dominant force of Italian football and challenged Europe’s top clubs.
He does not officially start with Spurs until July 1, but is already involved in the club’s managerial search and has identified former Roma boss Paulo Fonseca as his first choice.
The north London club have been without a manager since Jose Mourinho’s sacking on April 19, but Fonseca’s appointment should follow Paratici’s shortly unless there are any late hitches.
Paratici has been brought to Spurs to “develop the club’s sporting operations, facilities and footballing infrastructure”.
Levy confirmed Spurs will be active in the transfer market this summer, but was keen to restrict expectations about how much money they could spend.
The coronavirus pandemic has hit the club hard as they are loaded with long-term debts to pay off their £1billion new stadium, which has been unable to recoup the revenue they were expecting.
“We have to be realistic where we are,” Levy added. “We are still in a pandemic, the consequences for this club have been more severe than any other club in the Premier League over £200m of lost revenue. Revenue we cannot recover.
“The timing of our new stadium could not have been worse. We have the most expensive stadium in Europe, the highest level of debt of any club in Europe.
“Fortunately for us it is long-term and we are in a good financial position in that sense. We have not been getting the revenues we had hoped for from our stadium and as a consequence we have to be careful over the coming years and be prudent.
“Our duty is to protect the club even though we want to win. We will spend but we are a self-sustaining club, we have to be sensible.
“Sometimes the fans think we should be spending but there have been circumstances when the coach hasn’t wanted to spend on a player. We will make investments in the squad.”
“I am so happy. New experiences always give energy, power and motivation. I hope to give Spurs my passion, my work, my time and to build something better.”
👔 The first interview with Fabio Paratici, our new Managing Director, Football.
#THFC ⚪️ #COYS pic.twitter.com/1Yf8btHtLl— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) June 12, 2021
It is just over two years since Spurs were Champions League finalists under Mauricio Pochettino, having made back-to-back Premier League title challenges in the years before, but next season they will play in the inaugural Europa Conference League – the third-tier European competition.
Levy, who rejected claims he does not care for the club, added: “Things can change so quickly. We all know where we were two years ago.
“Are we satisfied with where we are today? Absolutely not.
“We need to turn it around but we need to make sure this club is in a sound financial position in the years ahead. We need success on the pitch now, my view is we have unfinished business.”
