Lineker worried Kane could leave
SPURS LEGEND URGES CLUB TO WIN SILVERWARE Tottenham have to show some ambition, says former striker.
Gary Lineker has told Tottenham Hotspur they risk losing star striker Harry Kane if they fail to mount a credible challenge for major titles, saying the London club need to “decide what they are”.
Boyhood Tottenham fan Kane rose through the ranks at White Hart Lane and the 24-year-old has now scored 128 goals in 194 appearances for Spurs and in the process surpassed Teddy Sheringham as the club’s record goalscorer in the Premier League.
Kane has also been the leading Premier League goalscorer for each of the past two seasons and this term averages a goal a game.
Tottenham, however, have not won a major trophy since they last lifted the English League Cup in 2008 and many of their fans fear Kane could leave if that lack of silverware continues this season.
Former Spurs and England forward Lineker said Tottenham didn’t just have to match the wages on offer at Europe’s leading clubs but their ambitions as well, or there was every chance Kane could follow the example of Gareth Bale, who left to join Real Madrid in a then world-record deal worth some £86 million in 2013.
“I think Tottenham have to decide what they are,” Lineker told Britain’s Press Association this week.
“I think if they want to keep the likes of Kane and (Dele) Alli, their star players, they’ll have to pay the going rate, or get close to it and they’ll also have to bring players in and challenge for titles because the great players want to win things, they want to be at places where they can do that.
“I suspect Harry Kane would love that to happen, I think that would be his preference.”
Nevertheless Lineker, promoting the It’s a Penalty campaign which aims to prevent the abuse, exploitation and trafficking of children from across the world, said Spurs could not rely on Kane’s childhood loyalties alone.
“If Tottenham don’t show the same ambition perhaps as one or two of the players, then they’ll get a little bit disgruntled and they might seek different areas and different places to play, so it’s a bit of a watershed moment for Tottenham.”
Lineker, now the presenter of the BBC’s long-running Match of the Day football television programme, arrived at Spurs following a three-year spell with Spanish giants Barcelona.
The 57-year-old, who had moved to the Nou Camp from Everton, said Kane would find it hard to resist an approach from one of Europe’s major clubs.
Spurs, fifth in the Premier League 20 points adrift of Manchester City, are at fourth-tier Newport City today in the FA Cup fourth round. – AFP
Tottenham Hotspur defender Jan Vertonghen says the London club learned a valuable lesson from a 2-1 defeat at Leeds United in the FA Cup five years ago and they will take nothing for granted when they face League Two side Newport County today.
“It was a while ago ... a tough experience,” Vertonghen, who made his FA Cup debut in the 2013 defeat, said.
“Away games are always tough in the FA Cup, everyone is up for it, especially against a Premier League team and we suffered that day.”
Tottenham and fourth-tier Newport will face each other for the first time since consecutive FA Cup meetings in 1959 and 1960, with Spurs winning both games.