Alexis Sanchez move to Manchester United could trigger Harry Kane move, says Joey Barton

Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane may be considering his future following the saga that saw Alexis Sanchez swap Arsenal for Manchester United in the stand-out deal of the winter transfer window.

On Monday (22 January) the most talked about transfer of the winter window was finally completed when the sensational swap deal saw Sanchez move to Old Trafford and Henrikh Mkhitaryan go in the opposite direction to North London.

Sanchez was linked with moves to Manchester City and Chelsea before United's proposal to offer Mkhitaryan and sweeten the deal eventually forced Arsenal into partying ways with a player who is out of contract at the end of the season.

And with such major moves being completed, former England midfielder Joey Barton feels the news will have affected the future of Kane – the Tottenham forward who had long been linked with a world-record move to Real Madrid.

He told Talksport (via Football.London): "When you're in the Spurs dressing room and you see everyone fighting it out for Alexis Sanchez. You're Harry Kane and you're linked with Real Madrid, it must make you think 'am I in the right spot here? Are we really going to challenge for trophies?' And maybe it just puts that little element of doubt in there."

The Sunday Times understands that Real are ready to pay £200m (€227m) to acquire Kane, who finished 2017 as the highest scorer in the major leagues in Europe but remains without a piece of major silverware at Tottenham – despite the club's progress in recent seasons.

Tottenham finished second in the Premier League last term but have notably regressed this season and trail leaders City by 20 points after 24 games of the campaign, though they have reached the last 16 of the Champions League.

In an effort to ensure they do not lose Kane in similar to circumstances to how Arsenal allowed Sanchez to leave for United, Tottenham want to smash their wage structure and offer a new deal to their leading marksman.

Kane is currently on £120,000-a-week but chairman Daniel Levy could offer him a package of £200,000-a-week to ward off interest from Real, while talks with manager Mauricio Pochettino, playmaker Christian Eriksen and midfielder Dele Alli are also planned.

While the imminent move to their new stadium means Spurs are unlikely to make any further additions during the remaining weeks of the January window, Arsenal and United could yet be active.

Despite acquiring Mkhitaryan, the Gunners still want to sign further attacking cover and are being heavily linked with a move for Borussia Dortmund's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. United could yet make a second addition in the form of Jean Michael Seri, according to The Sun, but that move may still take place in the summer.