Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy wanted to sell star player Harry Kane to Leeds United in the summer of 2014, according to David Magrone.
David Magrone, an ex-Tottenham scout, worked at the White Hart Lane between 2012 and 2014 and was privy to the behind-the-scenes transfer negotiations at the club.
Magrone has claimed that it was only because of the intervention of former Spurs boss Tim Sherwood that Levy did not accept an offer from the Championship side for Kane to move permanently to Elland Road three years ago.
At that stage, the England international was on the north London club fringes and had made only a few impact during loan spell at Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich and Leicester.
“There was serious consideration among the hierarchy at the club to letting him go to Leeds because he’d been out on loan and had never really set the world on fire,” said Magrone, as quoted by the Mirror.
“But Tim [Sherwood] knew he was a Premier League player in the making, and really didn’t want to let him go, even if the chairman (Daniel Levy) possibly did.”
“It wasn’t like he was costing the club too much or anything like that, it was really a question of whether he was going to make it at Tottenham.
“It was really only Harry’s desire to dig and prove himself at the top level and Tim’s belief in him that stopped him going (when the offer came in).
“He backed his ability and the rewards are fully deserved. I don’t think he once seriously considered going.”
F/W’s view
Leeds fan would have wish he had but, would Kane still been the player he is today if he had done so? Somehow I don’t think so. The likes of Chopper Cellino would have ruined his football career.
One of the many remarkable things about his rise was that so few football men saw it coming. Tim Sherwood was almost a lone voice claiming that the then 21-year-old was the real deal with the potential to be something special. Spurs have been the beneficiaries of his brilliant foresight, with the Englishman banging in 112 goals in just 177 matches for Tottenham and reaching a level that has made the world’s biggest clubs consider £150million-plus bids for the London-based goal machine. Leeds fans can probably console themselves with the fact that he would only probably have lasted a season anyway at Elland Road had his many qualities become apparent while wearing the club’s white jersey.