Analyzing Tottenham’s reported replacement options for Kane

Harry Kane is not happy at Tottenham. It’s clear as day that he wants a move to a club that competes for trophies, and actually has a chance of winning them.

Tottenham have had some great seasons in the last decade or so, but as of late, things haven’t been very good.

They’re going to finish outside top four spots for the second time in a row, and for a player of Harry Kane’s calibre, that’s not a good thing at all.

He’s “wasting” his time at Tottenham and as we saw from his quotes recently, he clearly wants a move away from the club. He wants to win trophies and that simply will not happen at Tottenham right now.

Harry Kane said this about his future very recently:

Now, according to a report by Daily Mail, Tottenham have already identified two players that they would look at as replacements if Harry Kane leaves the club in the summer.

Those two players are Manchester United’s Anthony Martial, and Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus. They may reportedly be included in a swap deal, depending on which team ends up buying Kane.

They’re two players that are clearly talented. But, they are very different to Harry Kane. The way Harry Kane drops back and creates space for his teammates, I’m not sure if either of them can do it that well.

They definitely have qualities of their own, and are talented players. But, do either of them really fill the hole that Harry Kane would leave behind?

Inonsistency is one reason why Tottenham shouldn’t go for Martial

Anthony Martial hasn’t really had a great season for Manchester United. He has lost his starting place to Edinson Cavani — a player that has impressed a lot and cemented his spot in the starting lineup. He was so good that Manchester United offered him a contract extension.

Back to the player that got replaced, Martial has always been this talented player that has shown flashes of brilliance, but never really been consistent.

His most consistent season was probably 2019/20, where he scored 23 goals and had nine assists. Since then, he has cooled off quite a bit, and hasn’t been the best version of himself for quite a while now.

He allowed Cavani to replace him, and if Harry Kane joins, it will definitely be time for him to leave the club.

If you look at it generally, Martial has been a good player. But it’s really important for Tottenham to think about consistency when you’re talking about replacing a player like Harry Kane.

It’s something that hasn’t changed in his career and that’s what is holding him back. That’s why he got benched at United this season, and that’s why he’s not a great option for Tottenham.

If you’re inconsistent, you’re not reliable. It just isn’t a good match, according to me.

Gabriel Jesus is a better option but with similar problems

Gabriel Jesus also has had a rough season, although not as rough as Martial. Because of all the problems that Sergio Aguero has had in these last two seasons, Pep Guardiola has preferred going for false-nine setups more often than not.

He’s played many players as the false-nine and it has worked really well till now. Because of that, chances for Gabriel Jesus have been limited.

Whenever he has played, he hasn’t been the best version of himself. In 21 Premier League starts, he has scored only eight goals and assisted four more.

Stylistically, on paper, he’s more similar to Harry Kane than Martial. But, he’s still nowhere near as good. Harry Kane isn’t as quick as Jesus, but is the more physical one, and is a lot better at linking up with his teammates. Well, he’s a lot better at many different things.

I give all this talk about a certain player being similar to Harry Kane not because Tottenham necessarily need a player similar to him, but it’s just that they would be able to work better if they had one.

What can (or can’t) you expect from these players, should Tottenham get them?

Harry Kane tops the charts in goals scored and goals assisted. Apart from Heung Min Son, there’s not a single player in the whole team that has more than four assists to his name. No one has more than nine goals.

So, who’s really going to be doing this stuff with Son once Kane leaves? Son and Kane have excellent chemistry. They make each other a lot better, and so finding a striker somewhat similar to Kane makes Son a better player.

Let’s leave Son aside: Do you think Jesus or Martial can give out 20 goals a season consistently? Probably not.

But if the next manager knows what he’s doing, it may end up not mattering. They might go for an actual playmaker to complement Son and the striker that they buy.

Either way, if these two were the options presented to me, I’d rather have Jesus than Martial, just because Jesus provides a lot more than just scoring goals, and is slightly more consistent and better in tight spaces than Martial.

Of course, it depends on the whole offer.

I still think they can do better. But as long as he’s not the only player Tottenham are looking to replace Kane with, I think they should be good. It sometimes takes more than one player to replace someone like Harry Kane.

Kane is amazing, multi-dimensional and is someone that will be missed. It depends on Daniel Levy and his decisions in the transfer market. This could go a lot better than expected. It can also go horribly wrong.