Manchester United have reportedly begged Harry Kane to officially request a transfer away from Tottenham Hotspur in a last-ditch effort to bring him to Old Trafford.
The England captain has remained loyal to the Lilywhites during their recent trophyless period, scoring a club-high 280 goals in 435 appearances, overtaking Jimmy Greaves's long-standing record last season.
Despite Kane's best efforts, Spurs have now gone 15 years without lifting a piece of silverware, and the striker will turn 30 this summer still looking for his maiden team honour.
The 29-year-old's 30 Premier League goals last season were also only good enough for an eighth-placed finish, meaning that the 2023-24 campaign would be his first year without any form of European football in Tottenham colours.
As a result, speculation surrounding Kane's future has been steadily increasing over the past few weeks, and the striker is only under contract at Tottenham for another 12 months.
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While Kane could try his hand in a different league with Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, he is determined to surpass Alan Shearer's all-time record of 260 Premier League goals and needs 48 more strikes to do so.
Man United have therefore been regarded as the favourites to sign Kane this summer, but Spurs chairman Daniel Levy is fighting tooth and nail to avoid selling to a direct Premier League rival and is prepared to demand at least £100m.
It has been claimed that the Red Devils are now pursuing other targets instead, but according to The Sun, they are not giving up hope of signing Kane and have made one final push to engineer a deal.
The report claims that Man United have urged Kane to either submit a transfer request or publicly state his desire to move on, otherwise they will pull out of negotiations full stop.
While Tottenham remain adamant that Kane is not for sale, Levy is running the risk of losing his star man for nothing next year, and the Red Devils are only prepared to go as high as £80m this summer.
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Erik ten Hag is thought to have earmarked Kane as his leading target, and the Dutchman has drawn up a list of alternative options should their pursuit end in failure, but Man United risk being priced out of moves for those targets too.
Eintracht Frankfurt's Randal Kolo Muani and Napoli's Victor Osimhen could both command nine-figure sums to leave this summer, although the latter will be allowed to go for the right price, as confirmed by Partenopei president Aurelio de Laurentiis.
Man United are also said to have been quoted as much as €100m (£86m) from Atalanta BC for Danish 20-year-old Rasmus Hojlund, whom they previously valued at just £40m.
In a bid to appease Atalanta, Man United could apparently offer La Dea the chance to re-sign Amad Diallo on loan as part of a deal for Hojlund, who has four years left to run on his deal with Gian Piero Gasperini's side.
The Red Devils are also on the lookout for additions in midfield and defence this summer, but the Red Devils will supposedly not be able to sign a new striker and goalkeeper while there remains little progress in a possible takeover.
Ben Knapton
