Manchester United have already responded to potential Harry Kane swap deal | Football

Manchester United could sign Harry Kane if Mauricio Pochettino takes over at Old Trafford, according to reports. The England international was linked with a move to the club back in the summer, despite Manchester City being favourites. Potential swap deals were mooted yet, in the end, the Red Devils shut down that speculation.

If Manchester United do try to sign Kane from Tottenham this summer, it certainly won’t be easy.

Spurs chairman Daniel Levy holds grudges and has flatly refused to let a single player move to Old Trafford since losing Dimitar Berbatov to Sir Alex Ferguson back in the summer transfer window of 2008.

That meant that when United came calling for Luka Modric in 2012, he was sold to Real Madrid instead.

It was a similar story with Gareth Bale, who made the move to Spain the following year despite the Red Devils offering more money than their La Liga counterparts.

And when Jose Mourinho tried to land Eric Dier and Toby Alderweireld during his time as United manager, Tottenham stood firm.

Now, with Pochettino being linked, speculation has again arisen that United will try to sign Kane.

Given how the club also want to land a new defensive-midfielder, it’s possible the Glazers will look to swap deals to lower the player’s price.

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Anthony Martial is one forward who could interest Tottenham, with Spurs previously tracking the France international during his time in Ligue 1 with Monaco.

Donny van de Beek was also admired by the north London giants before he swapped Ajax for United in the summer of 2020 instead.

And Dean Henderson would be one to keep an eye on, with the England international looking to leave the Red Devils in pursuit of regular first-team football.

Yet, in the summer, Express Sport were told that claims United were poised to use a swap deal to land Kane were ‘nonsense’.

Instead, it was claimed they had other targets on their radar.

United had already signed Jadon Sancho by that point, spending a massive £73million to land the winger from Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund.

And they were finalising a deal for Raphael Varane, who ended up moving from Real Madrid to partner Harry Maguire at centre-back.

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United made it abundantly clear they were happy with their frontline.

However, they ended up signing Cristiano Ronaldo on transfer deadline day after they learned Manchester City were on the verge of recruiting the forward.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was alerted to the situation and talked through a deal with assistant Michael Carrick and coach Kieran McKenna, as well as Mike Phelan.

All four men agreed they couldn’t let Ronaldo move to the Etihad Stadium and risk him being a success with their fiercest rivals.

So United, despite previously ruling out another attacking addition, then swooped to bring the 37-year-old back to the Theatre of Dreams.

Now, it’ll be interesting to see what happens with Kane.

United may U-turn on their swap deal stance should Pochettino make it clear he wants a reunion with his former Tottenham talisman.

And Van de Beek, Martial and Henderson could all be options to include in a possible arrangement given the uncertainty over their futures.

One thing is clear, however.

United will try to sign a new striker this summer, with Ralf Rangnick admitting the club wanted a younger Edinson Cavani.

“This is obvious,” he said ahead of his side’s Premier League clash with Southampton on Saturday.

“Edinson’s contract is running out in the summer and the club needs the best possible centre forward.

“This is an obvious one. I think everyone is aware of that.”

Rangnick also defended Ronaldo, with the Portugal international currently on a run of five matches without a goal.

“It’s not only about Cristiano Ronaldo,” the German said.

“We should score more goals, it’s obvious, I think we are creating enough chances and and enough opportunities in the last couple of games but we just didn’t score enough goals.

“But this is not only an issue with Cristiano, it’s an issue with the other players, especially the offensive players. We don’t score enough goals.

“If you bear in mind how many chances we create, and this is also something that needs to get better in the next couple of weeks.

“At Burnley, in 70 of those 90 minutes, it was very, very, very close to the game plan we spoke before the game and now it’s about rewarding ourselves and also getting the results we should deserve.”

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