How Tottenham's £237m spending spree could pave the way for the return of Harry Kane

View 3 Images

As Harry Kane was talking us through his heroics in Atlanta the other night, news was breaking that Newcastle United had accepted an offer from Tottenham Hotspur for Sandro Tonali. By the time Kane gets his match boots on again, there is every chance Spurs will have signed someone else.

They are not messing around. It goes without saying that the fee for Tonali - £92.5million with £7.5million in possible add-ons - is exorbitant, just as the £85million outlay on Mateus Fernandes is patently excessive.

Yes, there is obviously a premium on central midfielders with a defensive, combative nature but even so, £85million for a player who has helped a team to relegation in successive seasons - as Fernandes did with Southampton and then West Ham - seems excessive. As does a possible nine-figure fee for a player who was decent in a mediocre Newcastle season but who contributed no Premier League goals and two Premier League assists. He had four Premier League bookings.

Sure, scoring and assisting might not be Tonali's primary tasks but you would not be asking too much to expect a little more goal involvement from a midfielder. But Manchester City are paying a flat fee of £116million for Elliot Anderson, so the tax on these grafters is clearly high.

Too high for Manchester United, who balked at the fee for Fernandes, but not too high for Spurs. And their overspending is becoming a remarkable statement of intent.

Don’t forget, they also spent £52million on a player, Jan Paul van Hecke, who only had a year left on his contract with Brighton. And while Spurs have acquired Martin Dubravka, Marcos Senesi and Andy Robertson on free transfers, they enticed them with high-end salaries.

In addition to the £92.5million outlay on the fee for Tonali, Spurs are believed to have agreed a personal package of £275,000 a week. Presumably, the existing wage structure has been dismantled.

View 3 Images

Which brings us back to Kane. Obviously, Kane is not going back to Spurs any time soon. If he were to leave Bayern Munich this summer, it seems Barcelona would be a possible destination but his German employers seem confident the England captain will sign a new contract.

Kane’s current deal in Munich runs until the summer of 2027. Which is why Spurs should be on the phone to Kane’s people. Seriously.

Even if Kane is happy to stay at Bayern - and he has every reason to be happy there - he will be thinking ahead to his next move. And if this Spurs spending spree - along with lavish expenditure on wages - pays dividends this season, why shouldn’t they be in the market to bring Kane home next summer?

View 3 Images

A lot of things would have to fall into place and considering they finished 17th last season, that is a tall order.

Roberto de Zerbi would have to have Spurs in the Champions League, they would have to be realistic Premier League contenders, but that is exactly what will be expected to happen now that they are going big-time in the transfer market.

And they would have to meet the wage demands of a player who could, at this moment in time, write his own cheque. But now that Spurs are flexing significant financial muscle, they could afford him.

No-one really knows if Kane will want to come back to England to add that Premier League goals record to his name. But if he does, perhaps the idea of him doing it at Spurs is not so far-fetched after all.