Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has confirmed that discussions were held with intermediaries over a possible move for Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane this summer.
The England captain allegedly informed Spurs of his desire to leave at the back end of the 2020-21 campaign and was widely expected to complete a move to a title-challenging club in the most recent transfer window.
However, Kane ultimately confirmed that he would be staying put at Spurs in a social media post, while Chelsea broke the bank to re-sign Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan in a £97.5m deal.
Tuchel has now revealed that while talks were held, Kane was never "close" to moving across the capital, with the German telling reporters: "We never had a list with his name on it and I never went to Marina (Granovskaia) to tell her to buy him.
"But the club sorted out the situation. There are many people around players - their agents and advisors and people in between and we had some information from these people, but it was never that close."
Tuchel has also admitted that he expected Kane to join Manchester City this summer, but the English champions' pursuit did not bear fruit, and a recent report claimed that City will not try again for the striker in 2022.
Ben Knapton
