Bayern Munich have reportedly failed with their latest approach for Tottenham Hotspur forward Harry Kane.
For over a month, the Bundesliga champions have been attempting to sign the England international as they bid to finally secure a replacement for Robert Lewandowski.
Up until last week, Bayern were known to have had at least two offers rejected by Spurs, who remain keen to retain their all-time top goalscorer for as long as possible.
However, it was suggested in recent days that Bayern had informed their Spurs counterparts that they would move away from the negotiating table if a deal could not be reached by midnight on Friday.
That development emerged after the respective parties had held further talks regarding the 30-year-old's future at a time when just under 11 months remain on his contract.
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Although it was not necessarily expected that Spurs would take the chance to accept Bayern's latest proposal, it appeared possible given the finances involved.
Nevertheless, according to The Athletic, Bayern are still significantly short of Spurs' valuation of the frontman.
While a specific fee is not mentioned, it is claimed that Bayern were still £25m below Spurs' demands when talks were held last week.
Unless Bayern are prepared to go back on their own deadline and significantly increase their offer further, Kane looks certain to begin the season at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
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Kane netted four times during a friendly with Shakhtar Donetsk at the weekend, helping Spurs to a 5-1 win before he made the effort of applauding of four sides of the club's ground.
After the game, head coach Ange Postecoglou insisted that he remained relaxed on the situation, saying: "I don't have a view either way mate. That's up to Bayern to decide. If that's the way they want to conduct things, it's not up to me to judge that. It doesn't affect me. I don't sit there on a daily basis and worry about what other clubs are doing," Postecoglou said.
"I think what is factual right now is that he is a contracted player of our football club. I certainly wouldn't talk about contracted players at other football clubs but I'm not at Bayern mate so they can go the way they want.
"From my perspective I don't know what deadlines means. We know there's one deadline and that's the end of the transfer window. Beyond that, I'm in open dialogue with Harry and with the club on a regular basis."
Despite Spurs' current stance, chairman Daniel Levy has allegedly been told by owner Joe Lewis that he must agree a new contract with Kane or cash in on the club's most prized asset.
Darren Plant
