Teddy Sheringham believes the time has come and gone for Manchester United to sign Harry Kane amid fresh speculation the England captain could be heading back to the Premier League.
It was revealed last week that there is a release clause in Kane’s Bayern Munich contract that means he could be signed for as little as £54m next year.
Should any club decide to trigger Kane’s release clause, his former club Tottenham would then be able to match the offer and hope he chose to return to north London.
The contract development has led to speculation over a stunning return to the English top-flight where Kane thrived for a decade before his £82m move to Bayern in the summer of 2023.
Kane established himself as one of the most prolific goalscorers in Premier League history at Spurs and is second on the all-time list behind only Alan Shearer.
The 31-year-old will undoubtedly want to surpass England legend Shearer so could be open to a Premier League return, though he will first hope to end his trophy drought at Bayern Munich.
Kane is yet to win a major trophy for club and country, with Bayern failing to win the Bundesliga for the first time since 2013 last season.
It appears only a matter of time before Kane does get his hands on some silverware, however, with Bayern currently eight points clear at the top of the Bundesliga.
Tottenham, Manchester United and even Arsenal have been linked with Kane over the past week but Sheringham has urged the Red Devils to pass up on the chance to bring him to Old Trafford.
United were repeatedly linked with Kane while he was at Tottenham and Sheringham believes his former club should have ‘broke the bank’ for him two years ago.
Manchester United are expected to spend big on a new goalscorer in the summer but Sheringham says they should be looking at Alexander Isak instead of Kane.
Isak has attracted interest from some of the biggest clubs in Europe following his exploits for Newcastle United this season, scoring 19 goals to help the Magpies challenge for the Champions League places and reach the Carabao Cup final.
‘The problems all started two years ago when they didn’t make a bid for Harry Kane, the best available centre forward, the leader of football, and a professional at the top of his game,’ Sheringham told finaria.it.
‘That’s what Manchester United used to do. They’ve set their stall out since then and said, look, we’re not going for top players.
‘They weren’t in for Declan Rice, who would have run the midfield. He’s going for 100 million. That’s what Man United used to do: they broke the bank and got the top players in.
‘So, you’re asking me now, two years later, when it should have been dealt with two years ago. Is Harry Kane the right man now? Probably not.
‘I know he’s still scoring goals for Bayern Munich, but I don’t know if it would have the same impression on everybody if they were to get him now.
‘United need to start going for younger guns, but I mean, who’s out there? Would Isak come away from Newcastle to go to Man United at the moment?
‘You’d like to think he would, being a Man United fan, but I’m not so sure he would, so the further they fall down the pecking order, the less chance they’ve got of signing top players.’
Ruben Amorim’s current striker options include £72m signing Rasmus Hojlund and £36.5m signing Joshua Zirkzee.
But Amorim, who was appointed to replace Erik ten Hag in November, has reservations about both forwards and recently opted to play midfielder Kobbie Mainoo as a false nine.
‘I’ve spoken about Hojlund before; I quite like him,’ Sheringham added. ‘I think he’s had to feed off scraps for the last two years.
‘Manchester United don’t really play wingers that get the balls into the box and feed the centre forwards.
‘All the wingers do is cut in, and right at the last minute, if they can’t shoot they poke it to Hojlund and it’s like, right you do something with it. He doesn’t really thrive off of midfielders poking little passes through either.
‘Centre forwards thrive on service and if you ain’t getting the service you can’t score the goals. If you’re not scoring the goals your confidence dries up.
‘When your confidence dries up, your performance doesn’t get any better. Give the boy some service and he’ll score goals, is the way I see it.
‘As for Zirkzee, I’m not so sure. I hear they paid well over the odds for him. I don’t think he’s a Man United centre-forward, but he’s alright.’
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