Jose Mourinho is ready to table a £170million bid for Harry Kane, reports The Sun, with the paper claiming that the United manager is “keen to bring him to Old Trafford”.
Apparently the Special One has long had a soft spot for the Spurs striker and what with Kane’s red-hot form in the last season or two, Mourinho is desperate to get his hands on the England captain.
The Sun says that the Red Devils “sounded out Spurs two years ago”, offering the north London outfit £40m, plus Javier Hernandez, only to see their proposal laughed out of White Hart Lane.
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That was before Mourinho’s time, however, and now that he’s United boss he is ready to up the ante dramatically.
Aware that Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has always insisted that Kane - also said to be on Real Madrid’s shopping list - will never be sold, Mourinho is preparing to offer £170m to test his resolve.
That would smash the British transfer record but as a United source told the Sun: “Zlatan Ibrahimovic will move on next summer, more than likely, freeing up a load of cash they plan to use… it’s money they can lay their hands on but it will be interesting to see what Levy’s stance on the whole thing will be.”
Mourinho dreams of partnering Kane with Romelu Lukaku, a combo he believes will once more make United a dominant European force, but the Sun says that Levy is for the moment sticking to his guns.
It’s reported that Spurs will offer Kane a new contract next summer, increasing his wages to around £150,000-a-week, but that won’t stop United trying to “lure the 24-year-old”.
Meanwhile Sky Sports reports the comments of Monaco’s vice-president Vadim Vasilyev, who admitted there has been “strong” interest from United and Manchester City in Fabinho.
As to whether they French club might sell the defensive midfielder, Vasilyev said: “We are very happy that we managed to keep him… but we realise in Monaco we have a certain model, that at a certain moment when we feel it’s right, we have to let players go in order to be successful again. This is not only about money; this is more about being successful.”
But Vasilyev indicated that the two Premier League powerhouses will have to wait until the summer to land Fabinho.
“You never want to make any major changes in January, except something really extraordinary,” he said.
