For Manchester United and Erik ten Hag, Wednesday night represents a case of what might have been as they face off against Bayern Munich and Harry Kane at the Allianz Arena
When Harry Kane lines up for Bayern Munich against Manchester United on Wednesday night, both he and Erik ten Hag will no doubt be thinking what might have been.
Ten Hag wanted Kane to be his top summer signing, a proven scorer to lead his attack and a player whose goals, influence and all-round play would undoubtedly have taken United closer to challenging for the title.
United made tentative enquiries about signing Kane from Tottenham as far back as spring, but were told it would cost them £100million in a transfer fee and around £400,000-a-week in wages. Such figures were prohibitive to United, who were operating within tighter constraints because of stricter financial fair play rulings, leaving them with an overall transfer outlay of around £160m.
Given Ten Hag needed to sign a midfielder â Mason Mount â and a goalkeeper â Andre Onana â to replace David De Gea, signing Kane was simply not an option, despite the United manager’s desire to land the England captain, according to club sources.