If you believe that Harry Kane is destined to leave Tottenham Hotspur for Manchester United this summer, then think again.

It seems the obvious solution for both Kane and United. Kane approaches his 30th birthday in July still waiting to win his first major trophy, while United have made a proven goal scorer their No. 1 summer target as the key piece in the jigsaw that will make the club Premier League title contenders again.

Kane and United would appear to be the perfect fit, but sources have told ESPN that the prospect of dealing with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy in order to negotiate a deal for the England captain has left United focusing on alternative options including Napoli's Victor Osimhen and Juventus forward Dusan Vlahovic. Despite Kane entering the final 12 months of his Spurs contract this summer, one source has told ESPN that United will not risk a prolonged pursuit of Kane engineered by Levy to run all the way until final hours of the summer transfer window.

"United can't afford to start the season without a new striker," the source said. "And having dealt with Levy in the past, they don't want to go through that nightmare all over again for Kane with so much at stake, so they might not even get involved."

There are two sides to Levy's reputation as a formidable negotiator, however. Clubs trying to sign Spurs players find Levy, 61, who is the Premier League's longest-serving chairman, having been appointed in 2001, to be obstinate and difficult. But for his employers, he is the man who resisted Manchester City's attempts to sign Kane in 2021, secured a world-record £85 million fee for Gareth Bale from Real Madrid in 2013 and forced United to break their own transfer record in a £30.75m deal for Dimitar Berbatov in 2008.

After signing the Bulgarian striker just minutes before the deadline, a former United executive told ESPN that manager Sir Alex Ferguson and chief executive David Gill vowed never to deal with Levy again -- a pact they honoured until they both retired five years later.