12.06.2021 21:21 h

Spurs chairman Levy warns Kane over exit talk

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has warned Harry Kane he will put the club's interests first as the England striker attempts to force a move away from the Premier League club.

Kane has told Tottenham he wants to leave after growing frustrated at his team's 13-year trophy drought.

Manchester City are reportedly leading the chase to sign this season's Premier League top scorer.

But Levy is keen to keep Kane, who has three years left on his contract.

Levy, who appointed Fabio Paratici as Tottenham's new director of football on Saturday, hinted Kane might not get his wish because of the huge fee it would take to acquire him.

"I am never going to talk about any specific player in public," Levy told Tottenham's website.

"All I will say is his frustrations in not winning are shared by me and all the fans and players. We all want to win.

"One of the items that Fabio will have to deal with when he comes in is which players are going to be retained, which will be asked to look for other clubs.

"There is a market out there. What we want and what other clubs want is not always possible to achieve. We will do whatever is right for the club."

Paratici recently left Juventus and is involved in Tottenham's protracted search for a new manager.

Former Roma boss Paulo Fonseca is the current favourite to replace the sacked Jose Mourinho after a series of high-profile candidates snubbed Tottenham's interest.

Levy said Tottenham will back the new boss in the transfer market.

But the coronavirus pandemic has hit the north Londoners hard and they are loaded with long-term debts to pay off their new stadium.

"We have to be realistic where we are. We are still in a pandemic, the consequences for this club have been more severe than any other club in the Premier League over £200 million of lost revenue. Revenue we cannot recover," Levy said.

"The timing of our new stadium could not have been worse. We have the most expensive stadium in Europe, the highest level of debt of any club in Europe.

"Fortunately for us it is long-term and we are in a good financial position in that sense. We have not been getting the revenues we had hoped for from our stadium and as a consequence we have to be careful over the coming years and be prudent."