Real Madrid’s interest in signing Harry Kane is as strong as ever after his Christmas goalscoring exploits, reports the Daily Mirror, and according to the paper the Spanish giants have come up with a “creative” offer for the England striker.
Unable to meet Tottenham’s eye-watering valuation of €200million (£178m) for their prize asset, Real are ready to offer the north London outfit three of their finest players in the hope of weakening their resolve.
Having given the matter some thought over the festive period, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez is prepared to offload striker Karim Benzema, winger Gareth Bale and playmaker Mateo Kovacic.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Latest Videos FromThe Week
The problem for Perez is that Benzema turned 30 last month and has his best days arguably behind him, something that can also be said of the increasingly injury-prone Bale, despite the fact he remains a favourite with the Tottenham faithful.
Kovacic is more tempting, however, with the 23-year-old Croatian midfielder showing signs of world-class potential since arriving at the Bernabeu from Inter Milan in 2015.
Spanish publication Sport says that the most likely scenario is that Real will offer Spurs one of those players - either Kovacic or Bale - along with a sizeable sum of cash.
Meanwhile, Goal.com reports the comments made by Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino in a recent interview with Spanish outlet El Chiringuito.
When the question of Kane’s future was put to him, Pochettino replied: “As Tottenham coach I would say that if Madrid come in with a bid, we don’t want to sell, because he will stay here and they will have to understand that.”
But pressed on what the club would do if Kane submitted a transfer request, as happened with Bale in 2013, he said: “We’ll see what happens. Today, that has not happened.”
