Sensible Football Transfers: How to Replace Harry Kane?

For Tottenham, the thought of losing Harry Kane is inconceivable. With the player seeking a move and plenty of clubs reportedly interested in signing him, they may have to confront him before the current transfer window ends.

But how would they replace a center-forward whom they depend so much on?

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To start, it's important to quantify that dependence. Kane is an incredibly rounded goalscorer. At the end of the 2020-21 premier league season, he had scored 166 goals in the competition at an average of 0.68 per game. 104 of those goals have been with his right foot, 35 have been with his left, and 26 have been scored with his head. These goals have come from different positions too and there isn't really an area from which he's reluctant to shoot.

Kane is more than that. In 2020-21, he was the assist leader in the Premier League and over time, his creative effect on Spurs has become as important as his goals. He's an excellent short, medium, and long-range passer who advances the ball rather than simply laying it off. His switches of play are also quick and flat allowing full-backs to drive into space and although incalculable, his off-the-ball running creates as many chances for his teammates as it does for him.

He's also a zonal marker at defensive set-pieces and also one of the most reliable penalty takers in the world. Both roles would obviously need filling. More importantly, though, replacing Kane would also involve recreating the team dynamics to which he's essential. The partnership with Son Heung-min for instance which depends on quick, incisive interchanges, penetrating passes that make use of the South Korean's pace behind a defense as well as the more vertical sequences which spring the South Korean into space.

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More generally, any replacement would need the mobility and speed of thought to function on the counter-attack- during which Kane is often required to play critical passes or make final runs- as well as being both a playmaker and a target during more static phases close to and inside the penalty box.

The bad news is that no such replacement exists. Players who might perform a similar function are beyond Tottenham's reach. So rather than trying to find a like-for-like replacement, I've found three players each of whom offers a different type of solution and would represent a different sort of transfer.

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Option 1. Smart, expensive, and long term - Andre Silva

Eintracht Frankfurt's failure to qualify for the Champions League might make Andre Silva more affordable than he would otherwise be. But a prolific Bundesliga season would still see him command a big fee. Silva is a very different type of forward to Kane- more of a penalty box finisher but the quality of his goalscoring and first time finishing should suit Tottenham.

Option 2. Quick effect, smaller, shorter-term - Duvan Zapata- Atalanta

Duvan Zapata has already turned thirty, meaning he would command a smaller fee. Having scored a combined 56 Serie A goals across the last 3 seasons, he's an attractive short-term option. His creative contribution would not be a match for Kane but the range of situations from which he's dangerous and the types of goals he scores makes him roughly comparable. Having been highly successful in a physically demanding Atalanta system, he also possesses the mobility and size to succeed in English football. He is also better than Silva at finding space and receiving passes in the penalty box which would make him largely a front-foot player.

Option 3. Big fee, big risk, big potential reward - Dusan Vlahovic- Fiorentina

At 21, Dusan Vlahovic has just enjoyed his first truly productive season. Vlahovic can look ungainly but that doesn't prohibit either his accuracy in front of goal or his strength in the air. He has touches of skill in his game and a lot of self-belief.

With Tottenham's inability to attract ready-made players, their best option in replacing Harry Kane -should they need to might be to forge a new one from a rawer set of attributes.

Thank you for reading.

CC: @njaywan @worldoffootball