Rio Ferdinand has called Manchester United’s failure to sign Harry Kane the club’s “biggest mistake in the last 10 years” and United are still paying the price for not signing him. Reports linking United with the England captain span the best part of a decade.
From former executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward reportedly calling Kane a “dream signing” in boardroom discussions in 2017, to holding internal talks about entering the race for him when he pushed to leave Tottenham in 2021, the Red Devils have on several occasions sought to land the striker. They came closest to signing the 32-year-old in 2023, when then-manager Erik ten Hag made Kane his primary transfer target for the summer window.
But The Guardian reported in June 2023 that United abandoned their pursuit of the Spurs talisman due to the north Londoners’ lofty asking price, which was in excess of £100million. The Red Devils hierarchy felt that was unreasonable for a player approaching 30 years of age with only a year left on his contract.
Daniel Levy’s preference not to sell his captain to a Premier League rival played a key role in bumping up Kane’s price-tag. And he was eventually sold to Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich for an initial fee of £86m that summer, leaving Ten Hag to land Rasmus Hojlund for £72m instead – a player who massively underwhelmed before his loan move to Napoli on deadline day.
Many fans and former players of the Old Trafford club believe that summer to be the turning point in United’s recent history, with the team sliding further down the table each year since, all the way to 15th last season. Kane’s goals might have helped prevent that decline.
Ex-Red Devils stars Michael Owen and Ferdinand were of the same view when discussing United’s lacklustre transfer activity as a whole in recent years on the Rio Presents podcast.
Owen began by saying the current environment at United makes it harder for new signings to thrive, before adding: “I mean, Harry Kane should have [been signed]… Should have a year ago, a couple of years ago. That should have happened, I think. They could have got him, I think.”
Ferdinand agreed, saying: “That’s the biggest mistake I think they’ve made in the last 10 years. Yeah, well, I think if they go and pay the number that Spurs want, they would have got him. And if we’re to believe that, then I think if it didn’t happen because of a couple of million here or there, I think it was a terrible decision.
“I honestly think, I’ll say this and I’m convinced, if United had gone and got Declan Rice and Harry Kane in that window, Man United are in a different place now. Because again, it goes back to the environment. Those two drive an environment, I think.”
United also signed Mason Mount, who has repeatedly been out with injury since his arrival, for £55m, while Rice joined rivals Arsenal in a £105m deal in the summer of 2023. Meanwhile, Kane has scored 91 goals in 100 appearances for Bayern, winning the Bundesliga’s golden boot in each his first two seasons while claiming the first trophy of his career earlier this term with the league title.