Tottenham to play hardball with Harry Kane over £400k-a-week new contract demands

After conceding defeat in his attempts to leave Tottenham this summer, Harry Kane faces another battle with the club over a new contract.

Kane wants an improved deal to reflect his £160million valuation, which Manchester City never came close to meeting over the course of this summer's biggest transfer saga.

The England captain is pushing for a salary of around £400,000 a week to take him closer to the Premier League's highest earners Kevin De Bruyne, David De Gea and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, although negotiations are not expected to be straightforward.

Watch: Lower body workout

Spurs are reluctant to hand Kane a rise while he still has three years left on the six-year contract he signed in 2018 and after considerable disappointment at his attempts to force through a move to City this summer.

The club are preparing to take another tough stance with their talisman, after knocking back one bid worth £100m from City and refusing to entertain talks with the champions.

Kane's camp could also try to insert a release clause into a new contract to give him a easy escape route in future, although Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has historically avoided such clauses and would likely be reluctant to agree to a move that would take negotiations out of his hands.

Levy would want Kane to extend the length of any contract as part of negotiations, potentially tying Kane to Spurs for the rest of his career but maintaining the club’s leverage should he push for another move.

The chairman would also prefer a contract heavily incentivised with bonuses for individual and team successes.

Kane earns comfortably over £200,000 a week but believes his wage does not reflect his importance to the club nor his valuation. Tanguy Ndombele, for example, earns £200,000 a week but Spurs are this summer hoping to recoup the £55m they spent on the club-record signing.

De Bruyne, who Kane named as his ideal team-mate as he angled for a move to City back in May, earns £385,000 a week, Manchester United's De Gea £375,000 and Arsenal's Aubameyang earns £350,000 after bonuses.

Kane was this morning still waiting to discover if he would make his first start of the season in tonight's Europa Conference League play-off second leg against Pacos de Ferreira. He was left at home as an experimental Spurs side lost 1-0 in Portugal last Thursday but head-coach Nuno Espirito Santo is expected to name a stronger XI tonight.

New signings Pierluigi Gollini, Cristian Romero and Bryan Gil are set to start again, while Heung-min Son is available despite feeling his hamstring at Wolves on Sunday.

Nuno yesterday revealed he had discovered Kane was staying in the morning, shortly before the striker announced the news on social media, and insisted he was not worried about the 28-year-old leaving the club in January.

"Fantastic news for everybody," Nuno said. "We are all very happy. One of the best players in the world. We are all delighted to have one more option for the season ahead of us. His attitude in training sessions has been great. It's finished, Harry is going to be with us."

Watch: Core workout

Read More

Daniel Levy’s prize for winning Harry Kane battle is a year to prove Tottenham still mean business

Nuno reveals the moment he discovered Harry Kane was staying at Tottenham

Harry Kane confirms he is STAYING at Tottenham in shock transfer U-turn amid Man City interest