Dimitar Berbatov Exclusive: Man City must pay Levy what he wants to land Kane

It has been confirmed that Harry Kane won’t be playing in Portugal for the club’s European match on Thursday, and if this goes on until the transfer window closes, he could end up missing five matches in total. The fact he is already going to miss two is a pretty clear sign to me.

I know first-hand that it is a very difficult situation, but even with everything going on I would like to see him play. At least that way he could help the team. If he doesn’t get involved in any matches, then I think we have a problem.

I also read the reports about a supposed broken promise between Kane and Daniel Levy, it’s easy in this situation to have accusations flying all over the place, the only people who know the true story are Harry Kane, his agent and Daniel Levy.

If they did speak at the end of last season and they had a gentleman’s agreement which has been broken, it isn’t a great situation and it’s no surprise that Kane is p****d off.

I have been in this situation and all I have to say is that they should have expected and anticipated this.

Kane’s team shouldn’t have been so naive with this situation because football is a business. Of course, we like that gentlemen’s style of shaking hands and saying, “yes, you have my word“, but sometimes in football it doesn’t work like this and you get angry. You have to expect for these things to happen and plan how to avoid it or react to it when it happens.

In this case, the only scenario I can see that will resolve the situation is for City to give Daniel Levy what he wants, knowing how he does business that’s the only way Kane will go. He is going to be tough up until the last minute of the transfer window.

If it does go up to deadline day it will be no good for anyone. It’s not the right way to do business. Look at how City did business with Aston Villa for Jack Grealish, £100 million transfer, no one offended, and the player had the chance to prepare.

Spurs proved they can beat the best without Kane

The win on Sunday was a great moral boost for the team, there’s a lot going on at the moment with their key player, Harry Kane, but the other players showed that it isn’t a distraction for them. The win will mean nothing unless they continue on the road of winning games and taking points.

It’s a great start for the new coach and great for the team to get the win against last season’s champions without Kane. City won’t be too bothered with that loss, yes, it wasn’t ideal, but they know that the season is long and they had a slow start last time out and won it.

Beating the champions was a statement from the players, it was as if they were saying ‘look there is a life after Harry Kane, we can do without him if we need to.’ At the moment, everybody still wants to impress the new coach, to make sure that they are in his plans, this all leads to more pressure on the pitch and more shared responsibility.

Man United started the season in style

It was a great way for Man United to start the season, it was a great win and expectations are high. Overall, the whole game was brilliant and in particular the performance of Paul Pogba was unbelievable, he was the man of the match for me.

It was only the first game of the season and it will mean nothing if they don’t follow it up with consistently good performances because the Premier League is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s a great feeling to get a result like that on the opening day, but it means nothing yet.

Paul Pogba showed just how good he is

Pogba silenced the critics with his performance, but that is only until they will start again. If he has a poor game or gives a bad pass, they will be straight out for him again. There will always be people who talk trash and criticise him. It was great to see him get the four assists, this is what he can do, he has those cutting edge passes in his game and he has lots of imagination which is great for United.

I think he’d like for everyone to give him a break, he’s constantly being talked about and criticised. In the run up to the season people were talking about Jadon Sancho and Raphael Verane coming in, so the focus was shifted off him.

I like to see it when people talk about the good football he produces and the chances he creates in the final third, because sometimes you can have all the possession in the world but it means nothing if you do nothing with it, and in the case of Pogba he is always looking forward and trying to give that risky pass that can open teams up, which is why he also sometimes gives the ball away, he wants to give that final pass that leads to a goal.

I’m pretty sure he’s happy with his performance, it’s his job to give assists.

I hope it was a sign of things to come because he was great, but it was the first game, it was a good win but it doesn’t mean anything at the moment, there is a lot of football coming up and they all need to be focused.

Having Pogba at United is going to be great for Verane. The defender is coming into a new environment, a new language, and a new team. When you move to a new place and you have a fellow countryman already there it makes things much easier for you.

Pogba will be able to show him around the place, introduce him to the team and show him around England. I’m sure it will also be a good lift for Pogba, having his France teammate there, after all, they did win the World Cup together.

Verane has Pogba, but no number four shirt

I read that Phil Jones wouldn’t give the new signing his number four shirt, that’s no big deal. Jones has been there for 10 years now and even if he isn’t playing, 10 years at a club is still to be respected, it’s his choice to give up his number, sometimes players are proud.

Phil Jones isn’t some rookie, he’s said no and I don’t see a problem with it, some players are really attached to their numbers, I was with number nine, but sometimes it’s not possible and you need to take another one. At the end of the day, it’s about what you do on the pitch and if it’s with number four or 19 on the back of your shirt, you still need to play well.

Having fans back was a great feeling

I posted a picture on my Instagram when Mason Greenwood scored, you can see the facial expressions of the fans, that passion they have and the pure joy of being back at the stadium to witness a great win. This is what football is about and it’s a great feeling seeing fans back and let’s hope we can keep it like that.

I’m sure if you ask the players about scoring a goal in an empty stadium against scoring a goal at a full Old Trafford against Leeds at the weekend, they will say the difference is massive. There is no comparison. When you score and run with your hands up towards the screaming fans you are somewhere else, you’re not on the pitch in that moment, is an unbelievable feeling.