Harry Kane's Nike deal on hold as boot brands chase Erling Haaland

Harry Kane is being forced to wait on a new boot deal as the major brands prioritise signing up the Premier League's new goalscoring sensation, Manchester City striker Erling Haaland.

Kane, 29, has been contracted to Nike in the past, and is most likely to renew his current deal with the American sports giant after the World Cup finals in November, which is a major marketing event for football brands.

Haaland, 22, the subject of a bidding war to get him under contract, is the boot manufacturers' most sought-after player and they are planning their budgets accordingly to try to get him on board, even though Norway will not be at Qatar this winter.

Despite his track record as a golden boot winner at the 2018 tournament, Kane has not been picked up by any of Nike’s rivals, including Adidas, Puma and New Balance. The boot deal market is lucrative only for the highest-profile players with even the top stars earning sums that are dwarfed by their club wages. Post-Covid even those deals have been shrinking as sports brands marshal smaller budgets.

Nevertheless, the most marketable names have always commanded the biggest deals and Haaland’s impact on the Premier League this season – and the general fascination around the player and his distinctive style are viewed as a major asset in the industry. Others like Paul Pogba and David Beckham in the past have attracted similar interest despite not necessarily being the leading players of their generation.

Haaland’s Nike deal has expired and the player has worn different brands this season. He most commonly wears Nike boots, including in the Champions League tie against his former club Borussia Dortmund on September 14 when he scored a spectacular flying volley with his left foot. That boot, Nike’s bright yellow Mercurial Vapor 14, has been his boot of choice this season although at different times he has worn Adidas and been seen in Puma.

Kane is wearing Nike this season and the two of them are likely to battle to be the Premier League’s top goalscorer. Haaland’s 11 goals in seven games puts him clear out ahead of Kane in joint second with Aleksandar Mitrovic, both of them on six. Kane has won it three times already.

Kane scored a number of commercial deals in recent years on top of his Nike endorsement, including sports drink Lucozade and Beats, the earphone brand. Both have now expired. He has also had endorsements with Hugo Boss menswear and TCL, the Chinese electronics company which signed contracts with a wide range of European footballers.

Kane’s life off the pitch is now run by his brother Charlie and father Pat. They recently appointed the former Leyton Orient commercial director, Josh Stephens, to pursue new commercial deals for Kane. The Harry Kane Company declined to comment.