Tottenham Hotspur have been left ruing their lack of foresight this week following Harry Kane’s Ballon d’Or success.
Kane was crowned as the Ballon d’Or winner this week, becoming the first English player to win the trophy since Michael Owen in 2021.
The 33-year-old is the fifth Englishman to win the trophy, following in the footsteps of Stanley Matthews, Bobby Charlton, Kevin Keegan and Owen. Denis Law and George Best are the other two players from Great Britain to also be crowned.
Kane finished ahead of Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal in the top three in a success that many had seen coming. He is the first Bayern player to win it since Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in 1981.
He scored 61 goals in 51 club games last season, the most a Bayern player has ever struck in one campaign. Including England matches, it was 73 goals and eight assists in 65 games.
Only one player at a club in Europe’s top five leagues has ever scored more goals in a season. It is the latest achievement for him since joining Bayern from Tottenham in August 2023.
He has scored 156 goals in 158 games for the German club since, making the €95m they paid for him look almost like a bargain.
No clause
Sky now report that Tottenham could, and probably should, have earned more from that deal. They explain that it is not uncommon for Ballon D’or wins to trigger additional bonus payments in big moves like Kane’s.
It would have been ‘logical’ for Tottenham Hotspur to do so three years ago. They could have had it in writing that they would receive an extra payment should Kane win the Ballon d’Or.
Except, no such clause exists. Sky’s information is that Tottenham did not negotiate a Ballon d’Or clause. Thus, Bayern do no need to pay a single extra Euro to Spurs after Kane’s win this week.
Other clauses
There are other bonus payments in the deal – for instance for winning domestic titles or the Champions League – but there was no clause for the Ballon d’Or.
That’s surprising given other big deals, even recent ones, include such a deal. Yan Diomande’s move to Real Madrid this summer included such a clause. Even when Renato Sanches moved to Bayern in 2016, that deal included a Ballon d’Or clause.
Tottenham, though, didn’t include one in the deal for Kane in 2023. And now they are likely ruing their lack of foresight after the big win this week.
