‘Build around him’ - Gary Neville urges Tottenham Hotspur to keep Man Utd and Chelsea target

Gary Neville believes Tottenham Hotspur simply can’t afford to lose prolific striker Harry Kane this summer amid links to the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Bayern Munich. The England international’s contract with the London club expires in the summer of 2024.

He has been their main man up top since breaking into their first-team in 2013 and has scored 275 goals in 431 games in all competitions to date. However, he is yet to win a trophy and his long-term future at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is up in the air at the moment.

Spurs currently have Ryan Mason in caretaker charge as they hunt for a permanent replacement for Antonio Conte ahead of the next campaign. They lost 4-3 away at Liverpool over the weekend.

Sky Sports pundit Neville has delivered his verdict on Kane’s situation and has said: “Tottenham are the fifth or sixth team in the country when you think in relation to where they should finish compared to the financial might of Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea.

“Given the new stadium investment, their world-class training ground compared to rivals, they’ve managed until now to stay in the top four - so it hadn’t been a bad period for the club - but the last few months have been shocking.

“When you think about this season for Spurs, and how it’s going to end, I don’t think Tottenham can let Harry Kane go in the summer. They are going to have to let him wind down his contract.

“They will need to build around him next season with a new manager. If he leaves in the summer, and a new manager comes in, will he really want to take the job if he’s a big name without Kane there?

“They may just have to swallow the fact that they’re not going to get a fee for him or try to encourage him to stay during that season. The new manager that comes in is going to want to keep the pair of Kane and Son Heung-min together.”

Spurs have a huge decision to make on who to bring in as their next boss. They have been linked with a few names such as Julian Nagelsmann, Brendan Rodgers, Arne Slot and Will Still and will be carefully weighing up their options.