Ten Hag ‘sold’ on transfer as Man Utd decide on ‘absolute priority’ summer target
Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag is now completely ‘sold’ on the idea of bringing Harry Kane to Old Trafford in the summer, according to reports.
The Red Devils are having a good first season under Ten Hag with the Dutchman already guiding them to a Carabao Cup trophy, while they are still in the top four of the Premier League despite their 2-0 loss to Newcastle on Sunday.
Ten Hag has also led Man Utd into the latter stages of the FA Cup and Europa League and he will be hoping that he can get the backing of the club’s board again in the summer transfer market.
Man Utd are keen to bring in a new striker to take the goalscoring burden away from Marcus Rashford with the England international scoring 27 goals so far this campaign.
Cristiano Ronaldo left at the end of November, following his controversial interview with Piers Morgan, and the Red Devils had to wait until January to bring in Wout Weghorst as his replacement on loan until the end of the campaign.
However, it’s unlikely that Weghorst or injury-prone Anthony Martial will form part of Ten Hag’s long-term plans for Man Utd with both likely to leave in the summer.
And that will mean that the Red Devils need at least one new striker in the next transfer window with reports linking them to Tottenham’s Kane, Napoli’s Victor Osimhen and Benfica’s Goncalo Ramos, to name a few.
But now The Athletic insist that Ten Hag ‘is sold on Kane as his first choice for a new centre-forward, the absolute priority position this summer’.
The report adds that Tottenham and England’s record goalscorer ‘has a playing style that suits what Ten Hag sees as the centre-forward role’ with a source close to Tottenham saying: “Plenty of people in the building would love to see him in a United shirt.”.
However, the transfer is far from certain with Man Utd keen to avoid ‘another prolonged pursuit’ similar to the one they experienced in the summer with Frenkie de Jong, with the Barcelona midfielder remaining at the Camp Nou.
Man Utd will be able to spend big in the summer transfer window even if they don’t get taken over with the Glazers having access to ‘a revolving credit facility that has a £300million limit’.
The biggest obstacle Man Utd have to overcome to sign Kane is Daniel Levy with the Tottenham owner not setting amn asking price for the England international.
The Athletic continues:
‘There are informed people in the industry who are adamant Levy will not sell Kane, no matter what offers arrive.
‘This is what United are trying to figure out. They are assessing various options right now.’