Harry Kane is not yet looking beyond the end of this campaign but there is continued hope within the club that he will remain a Tottenham Hotspur player next season, football.london understands. Last summer was a strained one for the England captain and the north London club, with Kane’s desire to move to Manchester City not materialising into a move, combined with confusion over his return to pre-season training. Kane eventually released a statement on social media after the season had begun,
Harry Kane said: “It was incredible to see the reception from the Spurs fans on Sunday and to read some of the messages of support I’ve had in the last few weeks. I will be staying at Tottenham this summer and will be 100 per cent focused on helping the team achieve success.”
Guardiola made it clear in the following days what his thoughts on the matter,
Pep Guardiola said: “When one team doesn’t want to negotiate, there is nothing to say. It’s understandable, Tottenham didn’t want to talk so we didn’t talk. The moment they open the door maybe it happens. Maybe they say we want £200m – that isn’t going to happen, we don’t have it. We tried to open the door to negotiate, but the big master of negotiations Daniel Levy knows everything, we couldn’t do it. Maybe I’d do the same having Harry Kane in my team. He’s a Tottenham player and I wish him the best in the last years of his career doing well in London.”
Those last words seem even more pertinent now with City now firmly closing in on the signing of 21-year-old Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Braut Haaland, activating a £62.3m release clause and reportedly set to make the Norwegian the highest-paid player in the Premier League. So where does that leave Kane? The striker is understood to be solely focused on firing Tottenham into the Champions League, with a huge north London derby clash against Arsenal to come on Thursday. He is not looking beyond the end of the campaign at this time, particularly after angering some Spurs fans last season when an interview with Gary Neville speaking about his future at the club arrived at a crunch time in the club’s final few matches. Kane was impressed by the ambition shown in appointing Conte and the duo have quickly struck up a strong understanding, centred around their ambition, and mutual respect.
The Italian has pushed the striker to improve his fitness and in turn, has built the team around Kane as its focal point. That has shown in his improved performances with 22 goal involvements in 27 matches for the club since his fitness returned to its peak, as he netted 15 goals and provided seven assists.
Harry Kane said: “He has been brilliant. I can’t speak highly enough of him, as a coach, as a person. He’s really changed the mindset of a lot of players in the team.”
The striker has also made it clear that he has never been fitter or in better shape than he is now under the Italian and his coaching staff. In return, Conte has made it clear that he sees Kane as part of any successful future at Tottenham.
Antonio Conte said: “I am happy for him because we are talking about a world-class striker. He deserves the best because he is a great worker, a hard worker, this is not normal. Normally the player that has talent doesn’t like to work hard. In my career, I didn’t have a great talent and for this reason I worked hard. What I liked from him from the first time was his availability, he was a big example for his team-mates. When you see him work in this way, for sure you have the desire to work and work very hard. For this reason, I want to thank him, he is always a big example for everything and I hope to give him satisfaction. I think he is now enjoying playing this type of football and we have to try to continue together. I am seeing many players with great improvement.”
The key for Tottenham will be ensuring the pair does continue together, because in both Kane and Conte they have world-class performers in their field.
