Harry Kane’s stance on a new Tottenham contract has emerged amid fresh links to Manchester City. The England captain produced one of the great individual Premier League performances to help Spurs defeat the league leaders on Saturday having nearly forced through a summer transfer.
City boss Pep Guardiola broke rank by going public in his desire to sign Kane ahead of the 2021-22 season.
However, Spurs remained firm in their desire to keep the 28-year-old, who has hit form under Antonio Conte following a disappointing start to the campaign.
Kane scored a dramatic second-half brace, including a 94th-minute winner, to help Spurs defeat City on Saturday. He also came up with an incredible pass early on to free Son Heung-min, who set up Dejan Kulusevski to open the scoring at the Etihad Stadium.
Kane put Spurs back in front following Ilkay Gundogan’s equaliser and, after Riyad Mahrez scored a 91st-minute penalty, he won his side the game with a towering header.
Harry Kane could still seek a Man City transfer from Tottenham despite Saturday's brace (Image: GETTY)
City felt Kane would help them continue their domestic dominance but, ironically, his weekend performance blew open the title race. Liverpool now only trail Guardiola’s side by six points and have a game in hand.
But the striker could still join the reigning champions and will have more power if he wishes to leave in the summer.
With three years remaining on his contract, Spurs held a strong negotiating position last year. However, Kane will enter his final two years in the off-season.
According to The Athletic, Kane wants to see how Spurs progress under Conte before deciding his future. Meanwhile, the club currently have no plans to enter negotiations in the near future.
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Spurs have improved under Conte but went into Saturday’s clash having lost three consecutive fixtures.
Kane, whose goals took him to seven in the top-flight this term, struggled under Nuno Espirito Santo in the first half of the season but is now thriving with Conte.
He made clear his ambition to win medals last year and given Spurs’ 13-year trophy drought, it looks likelier that he will do that elsewhere.
Guardiola suggested City made as many as four bids for the player but Spurs remained firm.
“Now you can say, ‘Harry Kane didn’t come and everything is going well’, but at the time I didn’t know it,” Guardiola said on Saturday.
Man City boss Pep Guardiola failed to complete a Harry Kane transfer last summer (Image: GETTY)
“We tried but Tottenham were clear that it was not going to happen.
“When that happens two, three, four times, it’s over.
“After that we saw the squad and we were not sure. We then lost at Spurs (on the first day of the season) and against Leicester in the Community Shield.
“I never was disappointed in what the club cannot do in the transfer market. I’ve never created a fire here. When we have some talks and we cannot agree, we do it internally.”