£50m and £20m: Ex-Spurs star says two players could replace Kane at Tottenham

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Darren Bent believes Tottenham Hotspur should use any Harry Kane windfall to bring Danny Ings and Wilfried Zaha to north London from Southampton and Crystal Palace, speaking to talkSPORT (18 May, 9am).

That kind of deal didn’t go particularly well last time, of course.

In 2013, after selling the talismanic Gareth Bale to Real Madrid, Spurs wasted a world-record transfer fee on seven players, including Paulinho, Etienne Capoue, Vlad Chiriches and the luckless Roberto Soldado.

“We have sold Elvis and bought the Beatles!” former Spurs goalkeeper Erik Thorstvedt memorably quipped.

More accurately, Tottenham sold Elvis and bought Limp Bizkit – players Spurs supporters would have forgotten if the memory of their existence wasn’t so traumatic.

But, according to Bent, Tottenham are in for a rude awakening if they want to replace the wantaway Harry Kane with a centre-forward of identical quality.

There isn’t one on the market, unless Robert Lewandowski or Karim Benzema are suddenly struck by the idea of sharing a dressing room with Eric Dier.

“You’re never going to be able to find a recognised centre-forward who’s going to give you the same kind of output (as Kane),” says the former Tottenham striker.

“For me, he’s one of the best two (strikers) in the world so you’re going to have to start getting goals from other areas.”

Bent believes rather than Spurs trying to uncover Kane 2.0, they would be better off targeting a pair of proven Premier League stars capable of sharing the load.

“Danny Ings. I’m not saying he’s going to be a like-for-like replacement (for Kane) but he’ll get you goals,” Bent adds.

“Even someone like Wilfried Zaha. Get him in the squad as well. I think you’d be able to get him (out of Palace), especially if you’ve got £150 million to spend! I think you’re going to have to add additions all round Spurs’ team.

“I think Zaha and Ings would be a good start.

“If you could get Ings for £20 million, because he’s on a free next year, and Zaha at, say, £50 million, you’ve still got £70 million, £80 million to spend. Go and get a centre-half with that!”