WE WON’T STRETCH HARRY TO T H E LI M I T
Jose names May 9 as the day Kane could be fit to play again for Spurs.. but only if the match is really important
JOSE MOURINHO has named the day he expects Harry Kane to make his comeback from injury – and it is better late than never for England.
Kane has flown to Barbados for warm-weather treatment after the hamstring operation which threatened to make him a serious doubt to captain England at Euro 2020 this summer.
But Tottenham manager Mourinho has allayed fears his top scorer would not play again this season by revealing he is on schedule for Spurs’ last two Premier League games in May.
That would give Kane more than a month to regain full throttle before the Three Lions’ European Championship opener against Croatia on June 14.
Initially, Spurs’ prognosis was a return to action in April but there had been more cautious smoke signals about him not playing again in the 2019-20 campaign until Mourinho’s latest bulletin.
Asked when he thought Kane might wear the Lilywhite shirt again, he replied: “The Leicester match on May 9. Maybe we need that match for something – to be fourth, to be fifth, to be sixth, and maybe he can help us achieve it. I hope so.
“Is that the bestcase scenario? Yes,
I think so.
“There is not a setback. Nothing has happened. Everything is OK, he’s having treatment, there’s no pressure, he keeps going. That’s just my feeling. With
Hugo
Lloris, we were speaking about him playing again in February and he came back in January. It’s better not to put any kind of expectations, any kind of pressure on. Let it go and let’s see.”
Kane finished last season with a race against time to recover from an ankle injury ahead of the Champions League final defeat by Liverpool.
He looked short of a gallop in Madrid, but Mourinho insists he has not yet considered the possible effects of Kane’s return if a top-four finish or a trophy was at stake. Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate would face a similar dilemma if Kane reported fit for Euro 2020, but short of match practice.
However, Mourinho shrugged: “That’s a problem for Southgate and Steve Holland, not for me.” He was even more bullish about the timing of Spurs’ mid-season break and then the demand to play at Aston
Villa on the Sunday of a Champions League week before his side face RB Leipzig in the last 16.
He said: “I don’t like the way it is, there is no attention to when you play in the Champions League.
“It would be much more normal for us to play this weekend and not before we
Spurs’ last two Premier matches Saturday, May 9 – Leicester (h) Sunday, May 17 – C Palace (a)
Gareth Southgate expected to name squad before mini-camp in Vienna, with final 23 officially confirmed on June 2 Tuesday, June 2 – Austria (a) Sunday, June 7 – Romania (h)
play against Leipzig. But no, you have a break – and then you play against Villa on Sunday – not Saturday or Friday. So, they gave you 10 days of break, but then you play on the Sunday, then the Wednesday. So, for me, the break doesn’t make any sense the way it is.”
Mourinho will put out a strong side against Southampton tonight, but does not accept the Cup is Spurs’ likeliest route back to Europe next season.
He added: “To win the FA Cup is very difficult. You have all the top opponents and good teams with dreams, like Southampton and Sheffield United... it’s very difficult.”
Sunday, June 14 – Croatia (h)
CHELSEA target Timo Werner has revealed he is interested in a move to England.
The £60million RB Leipzig marksman has scored 25 goals in 28 appearances this season, and has also been linked with Liverpool and Manchester United.
Werner, 23, said: “I am open for everything. I was in America for a holiday recently and English football was on all the time.
“That’s an exclamation mark for the Premier League. But there are also big, famous clubs, and it would certainly be fun playing there.”