Ballon d’Or winner Harry Kane’s career could have been very different if a move to Leeds United had materialised.
On Monday night, Bayern Munich striker Kane was crowned the world’s best with the Ballon d’Or ceremony in London.
It capped off what’s been an incredible year for the England striker in front of goal. But he could’ve been in the white of Leeds if the early stages of his career panned out differently.
How Tim Sherwood blocked Ballon d’Or winner Harry Kane’s move to Leeds United
Back in the 2013/14 season, Kane was on the fringes of Spurs’ first team squad. He’d endured mixed results on four EFL loans at Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich City and Leicester City prior, and was looking to finally make his way into the picture at White Hart Lane.
However, it was revealed a while back in an interview with former Spurs scout David Magrone that Kane was in Leeds’ crosshairs.
United, managed by Brian McDermott, were after a striker in the January window and did get one in the end. But Kane was the man targeted before Connor Wickham eventually signed on loan from Sunderland in February.
Magrone revealed it was then-Spurs boss Tim Sherwood who denied Kane a move to Elland Road, with chairman Daniel Levy open to the transfer.
“There was serious consideration among the hierarchy to let him go to Leeds because he’d been out on loan and had never really set the world on fire. But Tim knew he was a Premier League player,” Magrone told The Mirror in 2017.
“[He] really didn’t want to let him go, even if the chairman [Daniel Levy] possibly did. Harry’s desire to dig and prove himself and Tim’s belief in him that stopped him going.”
Kane, of course, went on to become the world’s best striker at Spurs and Bayern, while Wickham played five times for Leeds, before being recalled by Sunderland.
What could’ve been: Every Ballon d’Or nominee Leeds United could have signed
The Ballon d’Or winner wasn’t the only player that could’ve joined Leeds in a different lifetime.
It’s well-documented that 6th-place Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was in discussions with Leeds in 2021. His agent was even nudging Victor Orta on local Georgian radio to make a concrete bid.
8th-place Erling Haaland is a Leeds fan and was shown around the training ground in 2017/18, before joining Red Bull Salzburg.
Haaland also said it would be his dream to win the Premier League at Elland Road. Instead, he has had to settle for tainted Man City titles.
And 9th-place Michael Olise was a reported target during the 2020/21 Premier League season.
What could’ve been…
