By admin 
Goal, Marcus Rashford to Luke Shaw to Harry Kane. This was the combination that propelled England to a convincing 7-0 win over North Macedonia at Old Trafford on Monday night’s Euro 2024 qualifying match, but it was also a glimpse of Kane’s club destiny that could await him next season.
United will be hoping that scoring at the Stretford End whets the 30-year-old’s appetite. Given Tottenham Hotspur’s reluctance to sell – and a £100 million valuation for a player with one year left on his contract – Kane’s possible suitors will almost certainly need the player to push for a move if he is to leave north London.
The caliber of United’s opponents complicates any transaction even further.Real Madrid would pursue Kane if there is any hint he may go, while Paris Saint-Germain is also said to be interested.
However, it was a rewarding experience that may inspire Kane to return to Manchester. England were not scheduled to train at United’s Carrington headquarters in the lead-up to this game, only altering locations at the last minute after Manchester City decided to renovate their pitches rather than accommodate Gareth Southgate’s side.
Shaw jumped at the chance, revealing on Instagram that he had given Kane and Declan Rice a tour of United’s facilities before confessing he had been chatting with many players about joining him at club level.
Even Southgate admitted “the players are tapping each other up” — probably only half-joking — and so the subtext to this international coda at the end of a long season has barely been concealed given so many England stars face uncertain club futures.
Not that it distracted from the team’s performance. North Macedonia were limited in threat and capitulated after a relatively competitive opening half-hour but England overpowered them with a stylish display featuring several high-quality goals and a superb hat-trick from Bukayo Saka.
After Kane’s opener on 29 minutes, Saka doubled England’s lead nine minutes later with a drive high into the roof of the net before Rashford got in on the act with a close-range finish. Saka netted again two minutes into the restart with a sublime strike, controlling Trent Alexander-Arnold’s raking pass before firing in a swerving 20-yard volley. His third was another cool finish from Kane’s clever pass, and aged 21, it made him the youngest player — and first Arsenal player — to score an England men’s hat-trick since Theo Walcott in September 2008. And all while carrying an Achilles injury, as ESPN revealed on May 24.
“He’s had it for a few weeks,” said Southgate. “It is an injury that just needs managing. But it would have been easy not to appear. I think when you’ve have probably one of the best nights of your life, it’s a reminder to everybody that it’s worth going through these things. To see the joy on his face, he’s such a popular member of the team, so humble. Works incredibly hard.”
That joy on Saka’s face extended to his post-match interviews, with the 21-year-old explaining he would “probably frame the match ball but hold it in my arms for a few days first.”
Arsenal’s success in tying Saka to a new four-year contract last month looks shrewder with each passing day, contrasted awkwardly for Tottenham with the conundrum they face over Kane as he enters the final year of his Spurs deal. After substitute Kalvin Phillips scored his first England goal with a 64th-minute tap-in, Kane had the last word, netting a record-extending 58th international strike from the penalty spot after Egzon Bejtulai pulled down John Stones.
Kane was replaced 10 minutes later to a standing ovation, yet another moment in this great old stadium that United will hope will tug at the heartstrings, leaving him with 41 goals from 64 appearances for club and country in the 2022-23 season. It is only the second season of his career that he has surpassed the 40-goal mark, and to do so in a Tottenham team that sacked their manager and interim replacement, missed out on European football entirely, and played against a backdrop of fan protest over ownership is yet another testament to his abilities.
When Manchester United met Tottenham Hotspur in north London two months ago, fans chanted, “Harry Kane, we’ll see you in June.” That was a reference to United’s interest in signing Kane rather than the England game on Monday, but the two stories became entangled once more.