It won't happen, it can't happen
Dear Mr Levy,
It's testament to the legacy that defines your tenure (which persistently haemorrhages the THFC landscape) that I remain eternally nervous. This current episode of heart palpitations is thanks to the tabloid press believing, or at the very least pretending to believe, that Harry Kane to Manchester United is a conceivable transfer.
Stripping away all the hyperbole, the necessity for headlines to generate clicks for revenue, there shouldn't be any possibility of Kane being sold to anyone after a single seasons worth of striking gold. Shouldn't.
Our problem is also your solution. We've been purpose built on the foundations of a transfer policy, an ethos, that allows us to profit with healthy returns to finance the illusion of contending. The stadium (the key to increased margins) has been in development longer than Duke Nukem Forever. We remain relatively small fry compared to others yet still we manage to pack the occasional hefty punch. Those throwing the punches produce knock out performances and then slowly they become detached from the conciousness of Tottenham. We become a stepping stone. They look away rather than into our eyes.
The media, the agents, rival clubs, bigger clubs and then the player seek the next level up. And whilst any transfer profit is used to supplement the next discovery, the next short lived journey, we lose that connection to ambition and hope. Be it Michael Carrick, Dimitar Berbatov, Luka Modric or Gareth Bale. We never quite match their own personal ambitions. Even though we recover and replace the gap that's been left, the gap returns soon after. It's a never ending cycle. It's an acceptance because it's believed. It's given form because we bend our knees to it.
The culture, the environment at Spurs is now so deep with this mindset that none of us should be surprised when the same gut wrenching disappointment repeats. It's summed up with the calculating genius that saw you buy out the sell-on clause from Southampton, knowing there was potential for Bale to make the club untold millions in the future.
You may state we are not a selling club but any club that doesn't have Champions League football is exactly that. More so because of the desperation and emotional chaos we generate in our continuing quest to claim it. We are never settled, so why should any top drawer player settle with us?
Kane is an ENIC wet dream. You don't care for the mess that will need to be cleaned up after because washing dirty laundry will always come up Lilywhite in the end. The club is not alone with accepting the cycle. A player that cost the club somewhere in the region of 400k to develop via the academy is now worth millions. Ignoring the propaganda and the hype, Kane looks to have all the qualities to push on forward and improve further. He has the temperament, the application. He's a well-rounded player and person. So linking him to this modern day Man Utd doesn't seem that far fetched. Does it?
Of course, selling him this summer might mean losing out on more money if he has an even better 'second' season. His value could continue to soar. Sure, Kane himself is a Spurs fan and has spoken about being a one club man, but give it time, give it time. Supporters can never really escape the club they belong to which means we learn to live with the pain. It becomes part of our experience. Often it fuels the celebrations that follow something great when we're lucky enough to flirt with glory. It's not like we can see our contract out and jump ship.
Still, regardless of the transfer ethos, Kane won't be leaving this summer. He's the only good feel factor we possess. We also don't have anything else up front that warrants confidence. The club will probably ground share with MK Dons soon. There has to be a balance, a bribe to keep the masses from melting. Yet still that makes Kane a pawn, a Machiavellian buffed weapon. A commodity that can raise the profile of the club until he stands tall and over-shadows it. Then he'll raise the zeros in the bank account whilst we bemoan that cycle then move onto the next one. He's no different to the other ones lost. The clock is ticking. It's always ticking.
We are constantly churning through seasons on borrowed time. Our Hart beats irregularly because of the constant attacks on our most identifiable players. Those players, any given player for that matter, come and go unlike us - the supporters - forever here. They're field custodians of the club we cherish. They embrace our heritage and it's only through them that our traditions can be channelled and fulfilled. The better they are the more chance the cockerel will crow. They are the personification of those hopes and dreams. When we let one go we lose part of a future that will never exist. When you replace them with the next great hope, we're starting from the beginning again. A beginning with an ending we are all too familiar with.
We're not a club that builds, we are one that dismantles. Keep on losing them and the future will only ever be a reflection of our immediate past.
Yours perpetually grieving,
Spooky
