Kane backs Spurs chief Levy’s transfer tiptoes

LONDON: Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane has defended club chairman Daniel Levy’s famously patient approach to transfer dealings.

Amid extravagant spending by their rivals, Spurs waited until last week to make their first signing, paying Ajax a club-record £42 million ($54.4 million, 45.2 million euros) for centre-back Davinson Sanchez.

A deal for Paris Saint-Germain right-back Serge Aurier, meanwhile, only began to fall into place on Wednesday, the day before Thursday’s transfer deadline.

“Daniel likes to do it on the last day to get the best deal, but we just have to wait and see,” said Kane, whose side finished second behind Chelsea in the Premier League last season.

“Daniel is a great businessman. He knows what he wants. He’s been around for a long time. He’s great for our club.

“The way he runs the club, the new training ground, the new stadium -- he does what he wants to do.

“Some chairmen are different. But he does what he does and feels it’s the best way to help out the team.”

While Spurs kept their powder dry, huge sums of money were changing hands between other European clubs in a transfer maelstrom that Kane describes as “crazy”.

Neymar’s 222 million euros move from Barcelona to PSG has reset the bar in terms of player valuations, but Kane says the transfer frenzy has not moved him to consider what his own worth might be.

“Sometimes my mates say, ‘I wonder what you’d be worth,’ but that’s not something that’s on my mind,” said the 24-year-old.

“If I was someone thinking about moving, then of course I’d think about that, but as you know I’m fully committed to Spurs in the future.”

One Spurs player who seems preoccupied with his value is left-back Danny Rose, who had to issue an apology earlier this month after suggesting in a newspaper interview that his wages did not reflect his worth.

Kane was reluctant to be drawn on the matter, although he did suggest Rose, who is currently injured, would be best served by getting his head down and doing his talking on the pitch.

“It is what it is,” Kane told reporters at England’s training base in Burton-on-Trent, central England this week. - AFP