On Friday, Tottenham broke the news that star striker Harry Kane signed a new and improved contract at White Hart Lane, tying the striker down until 2024 at least. The news not only confirms that the Englishman will not be moving on to pastures new this summer, it also indicates something extremely significant.
Spurs Chairman Daniel Levy didn’t negotiate some of the most impressive deals in football without being stubborn and standing his ground. Widely renowned for being one of the worst people to deal with off the field, Levy has often taken the same, stubborn approach to internal matters, especially when it comes to the subject of player wages.
Smaller basic wages, boosted by sizeable performance-related bonuses, in theory, seems like a sensible way of paying the modern footballer, especially when you consider the fact that some players struggle to find motivation nowadays, as hard as that is to believe. Despite this, Spurs are one of the few clubs to adopt this strategy, and please note that the performance-related incentives are thought to be quite tasty in North London.
The wage structure at Tottenham has been a hot topic for discussion in the past year, and not only amongst fans. Danny Rose openly criticised the wage structure at the start of last season, who was thought to be earning £65,000-per-week at the time. Hugo Lloris was the top earner with £120,000 (including bonuses), followed by Harry Kane and Jan Vertonghen on £100,000-per-week. Surprisingly, Moussa Sissoko was reported to be on £95,000-per-week (what?!!). The question of how Tottenham would keep hold of their best players with such a wage structure was presented to Daniel Levy on many occasions. Bonuses appeared to be the answer to a searching question.
Kane’s new deal will see him trouser £200,000-per-week including bonuses, destroying the wage structure that was in place at Spurs just a few days ago. The catalyst for change is the man behind Spurs’ recent Premier League success, Mauricio Pochettino. The Argentine held crunch talks with Chairman Levy following the conclusion of the Premier League season, and these have seemed to have had the desired effect. The former Saints boss has emerged with a new contract for himself, the dismissal of the old wage structure, and an increased transfer budget of £200m for this summer. With negotiation skills like that, you would be forgiven for believing that Pochettino was in line to succeed Daniel Levy as Chairman at Tottenham Hotspur.
The new contract for Harry Kane could be a historic moment in the history of Tottenham Hotspur. The start of a new era. The end of an era where Tottenham couldn’t financially compete with the rest of the big six, an era where Tottenham built up a reputation for selling their best players and an era plagued with mediocrity, although this has changed in recent years. Next season, Tottenham move into a world class 61,000- seater stadium, and it seems that Daniel Levy is taking significant steps to transform Spurs into a consistent title-challenging side. Therefore, don’t be surprised if we see new contracts over the summer for the likes of Jan Vertonghen, Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli, and don’t be too shocked if Spurs were to make a couple of big-money signings before the season starts on 11th August.
This report shows the Tottenham player’s wages – though we are not sure how accurate they are, they are certainly interesting and worth a look.
