In today’s football transfer rumours ranked, Harry Kane leads the roll call of players linked with pastures new. Plus, can Everton keep hold of prize asset Jarrad Branthwaite, and do Liverpool really need another attacker?
Barcelona want to sign Harry Kane from Bayern Munich
Rumour rating: 8
It is said that the reported release clause in Harry Kane’s Bayern Munich contract was inserted at his insistence, as a safety net should his move to Bavaria not work out. If that caution was understandable, given that English football was all Kane had ever known, it was also unnecessary.
Since leaving Tottenham in the summer of 2023, Kane has not only won the Bundesliga title, the first significant silverware of his career, but also become the fastest player this century to score 100 goals for a club in one of Europe’s top five leagues, eclipsing a record previously held jointly by Cristiano Ronaldo and Erling Haaland. This season alone, the striker has bagged 22 goals in 15 games for Bayern, taking his overall total to an extraordinary 110 in 108 outings. It is safe to say Kane’s time at the Allianz Arena has been a success.
Even so, the details of his contract bear scrutiny. Initially set at £67m, the asking price for one of Europe’s deadliest marksmen will drop to £54m in January. For a player of Kane’s stature, that is little short of a bargain, particularly when you consider how his game has developed under Bayern head coach Vincent Kompany. As Kane remarked earlier this season, Kompany has elevated his game to a new level.
“I’m someone who likes to turn on the ball and play forward passes, but that’s not always possible,” said the England captain. “So we’ve spoken a lot about opening my body, playing around the corner quickly with one touch. I feel like I’ve added to my game, not getting stuck on the ball as much and [finding] a bit more fluidity.”
All of which brings us neatly to Barcelona, who have been credited with an interest in activating Kane’s release clause as they seek an affordable replacement for Robert Lewandowski, who is expected to leave Catalonia when his contract expires next summer. While it is no secret that Barcelona president Joan Laporta would ideally like to recruit Erling Haaland, the cost of prising the Norway international from Manchester City, where he is under contract until 2034, would be prohibitive. Kane, the man who filled the goal-scoring void left by Lewandowski at Bayern, would represent a similarly prolific and altogether more viable alternative.
The obvious question is whether England’s record goalscorer would consider such a move. In that respect, his response to a question last month about whether he would consider a return to the Premier League was instructive.
“In terms of the Premier League, I don’t know,” said Kane. “If you had asked me when I first left to go to Bayern, I would have said for sure I would come back. Now I have been there a couple of years, I would probably say that has gone down a little bit, but I wouldn’t say I would never go back.”
Tottenham have an option to match any bid that comes in for Kane and Thomas Frank, the north London club’s manager, has made it plain that the 32-year-old would be welcomed back to his former stamping ground with open arms. But while that might leave the striker with a difficult decision to make at some point – he stands only 47 goals short of Alan Shearer’s Premier League record of 260 – it was clear from what Kane went on to say that he is in a very different place now compared to when he first upped sticks for Germany two years ago.
“What I have learnt in my career is that different opportunities and different timings happen and things fall in place,” said Kane.
And yes, he went on to add that he was “all in with Bayern” for the time being. But as his own words suggest, Kane, who was linked with Manchester City, Manchester United and Real Madrid before joining Bayern, now has a sharper appreciation of the benefits a big move can yield. He is no longer a one-cub man. Having tasted success in Bavaria, why not consider a move to La Liga, where he would be all but guaranteed further trophies and add to his goal tally alongside the likes of Lamine Yamal and Raphinha?
Barcelona’s interest could represent another instance of the right opportunity at the right time, of things “falling into place”. No move Kane makes at this stage of his career will bring a greater emotional wrench than the one he experienced on leaving Tottenham, where he spent the better part of two decades. So precedent has been established. Kane and his family have embraced a new country and culture once; why not again? Who wouldn’t want to look back on a career that saw records broken and trophies won across three of the big European leagues?
There is also the question of individual recognition. Six of the past 10 Ballon d’Or winners have come from La Liga, with Ligue 1, Major League Soccer and the Premier League providing the remainder. Over the same period, only two Bundesliga players have featured in the top three. Kane, who has never placed higher than 10th, has admitted he would “love to win” a Ballon d’Or, yet that is unlikely to happen at Bayern unless the club wins the Champions League. Conversely, Yamal was runner-up this year in spite of Barcelona’s European Cup semi-final defeat to Inter Milan – a recognition of his contribution to a domestic treble. Success in a stronger league would bolster Kane’s prospects of being crowned the world’s best player.
In short, the idea of Kane stepping into the sizeable shoes of Lewandowski, the man he replaced at Bayern, has a lot going for it. The striker has broadened his horizons over the past two seasons, and a move to Barcelona would represent the culmination of a career that has brought deserved acclaim but too little by way of silverware and, arguably, global recognition. The question is less whether Kane should move to Catalonia than whether, given the opportunity, he could afford to turn it down.
Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite is wanted by Man Utd and Spurs
Rumour rating: 8
When Jarrad Branthwaite committed his future to Everton this summer by signing a new five-year contract on improved terms, he said he was “over the moon”. It is safe to assume the Everton hierarchy felt the same way.
As the club moves into a new era in a new stadium, Branthwaite is seen as a pillar of a bright new future. Last summer, Everton rejected a bid of £35 plus add-ons for the 23-year-old from Manchester United, and held firm when the Old Trafford club submitted a revised offer of £45m. However, those bids came against the backdrop of an admission by former director of football Kevin Thelwell that player sales would be required to make ends meet.
Had United pushed harder at that point, moving closer to Everton’s £70m valuation of a player who had made his senior England debut only a month earlier against Bosnia and Herzegovina, they might have got their man. Instead, Branthwaite remained at Goodison Park, the Friedkin Group acquired the club last December, and the defender has since been tied down on a contract that runs until 2030. Suitors have been roundly informed that the centre-back is not for sale, and Branthwaite himself has made plain his reasons for staying put.
“The trust the club’s put in me and how many games I’ve played over the past two seasons has made it quite an easy decision for me to stay and to keep progressing as a player,” said Branthwaite. “With the new stadium we’ve got here, the new ownership and the new manager [David Moyes], it’s an exciting project and it’s something I want to be part of.”
For now, that would seem a sensible approach for all parties. While only three teams have had a superior defensive record to Everton in each of the past two seasons, Branthwaite is not yet the finished article and can only benefit from the guidance of Moyes, a manager who prizes defensive organisation and discipline.
Currently sidelined after suffering a hamstring injury late last season on which he underwent surgery last month, Branthwaite is the jewel in the club’s crown. In his absence, Everton have conceded a dozen goals already this term, a measure of how keenly his absence has been felt.
It is not difficult to see what the defender would bring to Ruben Amorim’s back line. His two-footedness would allow Branthwaite to slot in anywhere along Manchester United’s back three, while his dominance in duels would bring added steel. Comfortable on the ball, he could also play a key role in progressing play from deep, an area in which United have struggled under Amorim.
For similar reasons, Branthwaite would be a similarly welcome addition for Tottenham, particularly given the chequered injury record of first-choice central-defensive pairing Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero.
But while rumours crediting United and Spurs with interest in Branthwaite are therefore entirely credible, Everton’s determination to keep him seems as plain as the defender’s desire to stay at the club. It would take a significant offer to alter the picture.
Liverpool are keeping an eye on Fulham winger Kevin
Rumour rating: 5
Liverpool chief scout Barry Hunter was reportedly at Craven Cottage on Saturday to watch Brazilian winger Kevin make his first Premier League start.
Even so, it would be a major surprise if any concrete interest materialised on the part of the Premier League champions, certainly in the short term.
Kevin, 22, has shown glimpses of his undoubted ability in the seven appearances he has made so far under Fulham manager Marco Silva, who has sensibly allowed the attacker time to acclimatise to his altered circumstances.
It is barely two months since Kevin’s £34.6m move from Shakhtar Donetsk, a club-record deal that ties the player to the London club until 2030. Fulham, who have been crying out for greater creativity – half of their 12 league goals to date have come in home games against Brentford and Wolves – also have an option to extend the player’s stay by a further year.
For Liverpool, then, this would very much be one for the future. In the aftermath of a big-spending summer, Arne Slot has been hard pressed to accommodate his attacking options this season. Rio Ngumoha, Jeremie Frimpong, Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz are among those who have provided alternatives to Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah in wide positions, and the last thing Slot needs, after a difficult period his side, is another selection headache.
It should also be acknowledged that Liverpool have a more urgent need for defensive cover than further attacking reinforcements, underlining the need to approach this rumour with a healthy dose of scepticism.
