LONDON – Tottenham will smash through their wage ceiling to give themselves the best chance of keeping record- breaking striker Harry Kane.
Real Madrid are already lining up a move for Kane, with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy well aware of the growing interest.
Kane has become one of the most valuable players in world football but his relatively low wage of £110000 (R1.28m) per week does not reflect his growing standing in the game.
However, Spurs are set to revisit Kane’s contract at the end of the season with a view to offering him a fourth pay increase since August 2014.
Kane is the club’s top earner and his bonuses are particularly lucrative. Consequently, given his prolific goal record and Tottenham’s emergence as a Premier League force, the striker’s salary will have been significantly topped up with further payments.
Levy has a history of rewarding his best players with regular pay rises provided they keep performing. Gareth Bale’s contract was improved on a yearly basis before he joined Real Madrid for a then world-record fee of £85.3million. However, Kane is thought to have a far greater emotional attachment to Tottenham than Bale had.
Kane is planning to mark his momentous 2017 with a special photograph featuring his eight hat-trick balls.
“At the minute, they’re all stored away in bags,” said Kane. “I still haven’t got anywhere to display them. I’ll have to talk to my missus and get a room for them somewhere. I’ll have to get them out before the end of the year and have a picture with them. That will be a good one.
“It’s just been a great year, with the birth of my daughter as well. It’s been amazing, and hopefully 2018 will be even better.”
Kane started his 56-goal haul in 2017 with two in a 4-1 win at Watford on January 1.
“It was a good start,” he said. Hat-tricks came against West Bromwich Albion in January, Fulham in the FA Cup and Stoke in February, Leicester and Hull in May, APOEL in the Champions League in September, Burnley last Saturday and Southampton on Boxing Day.
When asked how he might expect to follow that, Kane said: “Hopefully another hat-trick at Swansea on Tuesday.”
The Spurs crowd saluted their hero at Wembley by singing: “He’s just a one-season wonder.” It was an ironic reference to those rival fans who were quick to write off Kane following his breakthrough season in 2014-15 and it is something the 24-year-old still uses for inspiration.
“It’s a funny song for the home fans to sing,” said Kane. “It’s something that’s always in the back of my mind. When people doubt me I’ve always wanted to prove them wrong. That’s my mindset and it’s been in me since a young age. Hopefully I can keep doing it for nine or 10 seasons in a row.”
A decade of Kane at full throttle will rewrite the record books. His treble against Southampton eased him past Robbie Keane into Tottenham’s all-time top 10 scorers. He has 123 goals in pursuit of top-scorer Jimmy Greaves on 266.
Kane could break into the top five by the end of the season but his aim for the new year is to bring silverware to Spurs.”In the Premier League, we’ve got to fight for the top four and see how high we can get. There’s still a lot to play for. It’s about winning trophies, that’s always the aim.”