Chelsea boss Antonio Conte said that he would sign Tottenham’s Harry Kane, who he believes is worth at least £100m in the transfer market.
Conte, whose club had just signed Real Madrid Alvaro Morata for an initial £58m earlier this month, pointed to the England international as the player he would most like to sign.
“For me, Kane, now, is one of the best strikers in the world,” Conte said. “If I had to buy one striker I would go to Kane.”
“He is a complete striker. He is strong physically, with the ball, without the ball, he fights and he’s strong in the air and acrobatic on the right and the left. He’s a complete player. He’s one of the top strikers in the world. If you go to buy Kane now it would be at least £100m. At least. For me, if I see this price for a striker I know for sure he’s a big striker.”
Kane, who plays for Chelsea’s neighbouring rivals Tottenham, scored 93 goals over the last three seasons with 29 in the Premier League last season as Tottenham finished as runners-up behind Chelsea.
With Spurs coach Mauricio Pochettino yet to make any new signings this summer, Conte questioned the Tottenham’s ambition but also acknowledged that his counterpart is under far less pressure to win silver, and that the current inflated transfer market makes signing players, even defenders, difficult.
“If they don’t win the title, it’s not a tragedy,” he said. “If they don’t arrive in the Champions League, it’s not a tragedy. For Chelsea, Arsenal, City, United and… I don’t know… Liverpool, it is a tragedy.”
“Every team has to understand what their ambitions are. If their ambitions are to fight for the title or win the Champions League, you must buy expensive players. Otherwise you continue to stay in your level. It’s simple. My question is this: What are Tottenham’s expectations?”
“(But) Honestly, I think now every single player is expensive. For you to even enquire about one player, he is expensive. You go to buy a right-back, a left-back or a central defender and he is expensive. It is very difficult in the transfer market for the teams that need to improve their squads.”