“The Harry Kane team” is how Pep Guardiola once described Spurs.
“Yes, but for how much longer?” is what the football world is now asking.
As Kane flies off with his teammates on a pre-season tour to Perth, Bangkok and Singapore, speculation about his future is also entering the stratosphere.
The England captain’s contract ends next year when he can walk out for free.
Spurs need to cash in on him now, but want £120m. It’s an awful lot for a player who turns 30 in two weeks.
But still there are suitors with Paris Saint-Germain joining Bayern Munich in the chase.
Kane, a homebird with a young family, would prefer to stay in England with Manchester United believed to be his preferred choice.
He was the Devils’ No 1 target but the delay in the sale of the club forced them to pull out of the race.
The greed of the Glazer owners proving a millstone to the bitter end.
From this vantage point, Chelsea might seem the obvious destination: the Blues badly need him, they have the cash and he wouldn’t have to move house.
And his chances of beating Alan Shearer’s Premier League scoring record of 260 goals (in 441 appearances) would be very much alive.
Kane is on 213 in 317 games.
It’s also where Mauricio Pochettino, who turned Kane from a lower league loanee into a Tottenham legend, has just taken over.
But London football’s sectarianism makes it a non-starter. Remember Sol Campbell?
He went to Spurs’ No 1 enemy, Arsenal, and won titles. But his life would never be the same: he’s still called ‘Judas’ to this day. Chelsea are Enemy No 2.
So Kane, one of English football’s greatest strikers, is in limbo. Loyal to Spurs but longing for a trophy.
This week he met new boss, Ange Postecoglou, for the first time.
It was no more than a chat about playing style as the Australian is not in charge of the purse strings.
They are held in an iron fist by club chairman Daniel Levy.
“Negotiating with him,” said Alex Ferguson, “was more painful than my hip replacement.”
It was Levy who persuaded Kane to commit himself to a long contract which has shackled his ambitions ever since.
Guardiola wanted him two years ago but Manchester City were not prepared to meet Levy’s asking price of £150m back then.
Instead, City have landed Erling Haaland, so that ship has well and truly sailed.
Short of an unlikely breakthrough in the United sale or misfortune to the Norwegian, Kane to Manchester – red half or blue – seems destined not to happen.
Real Madrid were once considered favourites to land Kane, but that was before Kylian Mbappe told PSG he could walk out any time.
The Spanish kings have long been seen as the French superstar’s ultimate destination.
Even if it takes a year, they would not be offering Kane a long enough contract to attract him.
So, it has been Bayern Munich that has made all the running so far with manager Thomas Tuchel having met Kane in London in April.
A couple of derisory bids have been given short shrift by Levy.
But the Germans have not given up and are prepared to sell no less than seven players to raise a fee that would make the Spurs head honcho think.
Tuchel, who took Chelsea to a Champions League triumph two years ago, has long been an admirer of Kane whom he sees as a natural successor to Robert Lewandowski.
Bayern missed the great Pole’s goals last season and were almost pipped to the Bundesliga crown by Borussia Dortmund.
Stung by that narrow squeak, Tuchel cannot afford to let it happen again.
Among those he’s prepared to sell to make way for Kane are ex-Liverpool star, Sadio Mane, current Liverpool target, Ryan Gravenberch, and ex-Manchester United loanee, Marcel Sabitzer.
To bounce back, Bayern will expect a clean sweep in Germany and a run to at least the last four of the Champions League.
With Kane up front, Tuchel believes they can achieve that.
Tuchel must have been given some encouragement by Kane to persist, but that might just be the striker keeping all his options open.
Famously played out by Levy when denied a move to City, Kane has learned from committing himself too soon.
The problem is that Spurs, even with their skipper in the side, are long shots to win silverware in the foreseeable future.
They trailed in a hapless eighth last season, 11 points below a top four place and 29 adrift of champions, City.
Even a place in the Conference, Europe’s third-ranked competition, was beyond them.
They have a massive restoration job on their hands so it was encouraging to hear Postecoglou say: “I love a rebuild,” at his unveiling.
But for a rookie boss in English football, it is asking a lot to expect more than solid foundations to be laid.
James Maddison’s arrival will add creativity and goals from midfield, but much more is required, not least a lifting of the clouds around Son Heung-min who rarely shone last season.
The scramble for top four places will be even more frantic this season. Chelsea cannot be as bad again.
Liverpool will be better as will Newcastle, while City and Arsenal will take some shifting from the top two. Aston Villa may be in the mix too.
So, if Kane stays, Shearer’s record is his only realistic target.
Most people expect him to accept Spurs’ new offer of £400k a week if he agrees to stay beyond next season. The bookies have him odds-on to do so and former boss, Harry Redknapp, says: “He’s sure to stay.”
But there’s a third option and the one Levy fears: for Kane to do nothing and walk free next year to the club of his choosing
It would be sweet revenge over Levy as then “the Harry Kane team” would no longer be Spurs.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.