Premier League great Dwight Yorke has likened Harry Kane's transfer decision this summer, to the situation Robin van Persie faced at the same stage of his career.
The Dutchman famously moved from Arsenal to Manchester United in 2012, before he lifted the Premier League title at the end of his first season in Manchester.
Kane, who is Tottenham's all-time leading goalscorer, has been heavily-linked with a move to Old Trafford as he potentially looks to end his trophy drought.
The 51-year-old shared his thoughts on Kane, Blackburn Rovers and what Gareth Southgate should do with regards to young forward Folarin Balogun.
On Harry Kane
England's all-time leading goalscorer reportedly wanted to leave Spurs for Manchester City in 2021, but the Premier League champions have since added Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez to their attack.
That seemingly rules out a move to the blue side of Manchester, but could he be in line to join Erik ten Hag's rejuvenated team.
Yorke believes that Kane doesn't need to make the decision just yet, and he can focus on his football until the end of the season.
“Harry Kane will evaluate the whole situation at the end of the season. Kane has just become England and Tottenham’s all-time top goalscorer, so I can’t imagine he’d be too worried at the moment.
"I don’t think Antonio Conte was on about Kane when he complained about his players, because Kane does not achieve what he has if he was not a winner and a dedicated player. Kane can just relax and see where Tottenham finish at the end of the season."
Of course, if the England striker is to move on, he still won't be guaranteed to win something at the 13-time Premier League winners. Yorke added:
“Moving to Manchester United will not guarantee him winning something, but Kane will want to win a league title because Alan Shearer was able to do it.
"Winning personal accolades is great but winning trophies with your team is what football is all about, it’s a team sport, so he might have to make a difficult decision. Kane’s decision to leave the club will be a lot easier if Tottenham don’t make it into the top four, because he can’t go through another year not playing at the top level.
"Harry Kane not having a trophy in his cabinet will not resonate well with a player’s history, he’d be remembered more as an individual and not as a team player."
Kane or Osimhen?
Victor Osimhen of Napoli, is another striker who's name has been linked with a number of top clubs in England, such as Chelsea and the Red Devils.
If United had a choice between the Tottenham man and the 24-year-old Nigerian international, who does Yorke think they should sign?
“Victor Osimhen does look like the real deal and Harry Kane is 29 years old, soon to be 30. But Robin van Persie was 29 years old when he joined Manchester United from Arsenal and look what happened.
"If Kane was over 30, then I’d probably say they should prioritise Osimhen, but at 29, Kane still has a couple of good years and he’ll want that elusive Premier League or major trophy.
"The problem is it’s never a two-year contract, it’s always at least four years. In terms of the next two years, I’d sign Kane, but after that is when it becomes a problem.”
On Folarin Balogun
The Reims striker, who is on loan from Arsenal, has earned rave reviews for his performances in Ligue 1 this season.
He's scored 17 goals, which puts himself behind only Jonathan David and Kylian Mbappe in the goalscoring charts in France.
He is able to represent England, United States and Nigeria at international level.
Yorke thinks that the England manager Southgate should sit down with Balogun, in order to fully understand the situation.
"If I was Gareth Southgate, I would like to have a conversation with Folarin Balogun and understand why he’s made that decision, he should not shut the door on him just yet because he could be the next big thing.
"From a conversation, then you can find out if he has the right attitude or not to be in your team. We’ve seen players like Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah not have a good time with their managers and look at them now, Balogun could be the same.”
Deciding what national team to represent is something that a lot of young footballers, who have dual-nationalities face.
The 51-year-old captained Trinidad and Tobago at the 2006 World Cup and he admits that it has completely changed, with the new generation of players.
“It’s a different generation now. You used to have to earn the spot to be in the first team changing room, now it’s different. This generation is much softer, they are much more protected by the FA and the Football Players Association.
"Social media plays a big deal too, they have millions of followers which they earn money from. These young players like Folarin Balogun need to remember that without football, they would not be where they are now, and people can be disillusioned by them because they have millions of social media followers.
"Football has made these players’ lives a lot easier with the option of playing for different countries. If they had only one option, once you’re an Englishman, you’re an Englishman, they would not be having these kinds of strops."
On Blackburn
Yorke moved from Old Trafford to Blackburn Rovers in 2002 to reunite with his former strike-partner Andy Cole.
But the 1998-99 Premier League Golden Boot winner was disappointed with manager Graeme Souness, and felt that it was completely different to playing under Sir Alex Ferguson.
"I had a chance to join Middlesborough at the time, but because I saw Andy Cole have a good season and win the Carabao Cup, and Cole was my neighbour so he was telling me about the journey so we could travel together from Manchester, it was a no brainer.
"Although the success was not the same as it was at Manchester United because we were older and were not playing with the same calibre of players, we felt we could've had a good go again as a partnership.
"We had some good games against Manchester United and Celtic, they were classic football matches when you saw the old version of me and Cole enjoying our football, we had fun doing that.
"Souness was a great player in his time, achieving all the great things in football, but as a manager, he was hard to work with, especially just after working with Sir Alex Ferguson so that was the only disappointment of joining Blackburn Rovers.”
Jon Dahl Tomasson is currently in charge at Ewood Park and he has guided Blackburn to sixth in the Championship table, just inside the play-off places.
They have been outside the top-flight ever since they were relegated from the Premier League in 2012 - but Yorke has suggested that it is time, that they were among the elite of English football again.
“Blackburn Rovers won the Premier League in 1996, they will feel like they deserve to be back in the Premier League again. They're going through a transitional period, Jon Dahl Tomasson is doing a great job there.
"The top six is a great chance to get promoted, it will be a straight shootout. As a manager there, they'll want to sneak through the back door and build momentum on the way.
"That will be the mindset, they'll give it their all and the teams they face won't fancy playing against them.”
Brentford prediction
Manchester United welcome Brentford on Wednesday night to Old Trafford, looking to bounce back from their 4-0 defeat to the same opponent earlier this season.
Yorke, though, is expecting a different outcome this time around, as the Red Devils try and move back into the Champions League places.
“I don't like the word revenge, I don't think it's the right approach but Manchester United did make mistakes against Brentford earlier on in the season.
"Brentford overran them, and I think the Manchester United players did not have the mentality to withstand a team away from home. Now, they're in a much better place, Brentford will be in for a tough game and Manchester United have a better team and have improved physically too.
“Sir Alex Ferguson always let us know that these teams will come to Old Trafford to work their socks off, but if we could match them with desire then we would win. A tough game but I expect Manchester United to win 2-0.”
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