Perez: 'Magnificent' Kane would cost us $400m
It would take a world-record fee of 250 million euros (S$400m) to land the on-fire Harry Kane from Tottenham Hotspur, according to Real Madrid president Florentino Perez.
The English striker's 13 goals in 12 games this season has sparked rumours he could be the latest star to swop Spurs for Real, following in the footsteps of Luka Modric and Gareth Bale.
However, having had his fingers burnt in paying a then-world-record 100m euros for Bale in 2013, Perez is wary of trying to negotiate with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy.
"He is a magnificent player and, moreover, he is young with many years ahead of him to progress," Perez told Spanish radio station Cadena Cope after attending Fifa's annual awards.
Perez believes Levy's reputation for delaying moves until late in the transfer window to get the best possible deal means he would want more than the 222m euros Paris Saint-Germain paid to snatch Neymar from Barcelona in August.
"No, (I haven't asked the price) because if I ask, he will tell me 250 million," Perez said.
"We have made friends with Tottenham over the time it took to sign Modric and Bale as we ended up signing them on the final day of the window.
"We ended up having a good friendship and Levy always says to me when we win the European Cup: 'Thanks for winning the European Cup with my players'."
Real's feat in retaining the Champions League was rewarded on Monday as Cristiano Ronaldo won Fifa's Player of the Year award for the second straight year, while Zinedine Zidane picked up the best coach award and four other Real players - Marcelo, Sergio Ramos, Toni Kroos and Modric - joined Ronaldo in the Team of the Year.
However, the European champions were unable to get the better of Kane's Spurs in a 1-1 Champions League draw at the Santiago Bernabeu last week.
Kane will have another chance to show Real what they are missing when the sides meet again next Thursday morning (Singapore time) at Wembley with top spot in Group H at stake. - AFP
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