Nuno: Kane could start against City
NUNO Espirito Santo has left the door open for Harry Kane to feature in Tottenham’s season opener against Manchester City on Sunday.
Spurs boss Nuno was due to speak to star striker Kane for the first time in person yesterday after his delayed return to training following the Euros and his summer break — a wait which has coincided with his attempts to force a move away from Tottenham this summer.
The chances of Kane being involved against City — his main suitors and the club the England captain wants to join — are in doubt with his future up in the air.
Nuno, though, has put the ball in Kane’s court by insisting that all the players in regular training will be in contention for a place in his squad for City’s visit.
Nuno said: ‘All the players who work on a daily basis will be options for us, then it’s up to us to decide.’
Kane was originally expected back at Spurs at the beginning of last week but only returned on Saturday to begin his preparations for the new campaign.
He is currently isolating having holidayed in the Bahamas and Florida — which has so far prevented him from being part of Nuno’s pre-season plans.
Kane is staying at The Lodge, the hotel at Spurs’ training ground. He has been able to begin preparing for the season by training alone but is not due to join Nuno’s first-team group until Thursday.
He could then have up to three days of full training before Spurs host champions City. Although a week may seem insufficient, Kane has shown previously that he is capable of starting a season despite minimal build-up.
Following the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Kane started Spurs’ opener at Newcastle, playing the full 90 minutes only five days after returning to training.
Whether he is now willing to be involved against City given the backdrop to his pre-season and desire to move remains to be seen.
On his discussions with Kane, Nuno said: ‘We hope to solve all the situations. It’s not about that (Kane’s late return), it’s about what we have to do to solve the situation — this is important.
‘We have to solve it together, everybody involved has to solve it together — speaking, having a nice conversation and putting our opinions, but everybody together.’
No DOUBT Harry Kane and Nuno Espirito Santo have had their little chat now, so both parties are aware that Harry wants to leave and Nuno wants him to stay. And it could perhaps then be argued that the conversation was unnecessary because the world and his wife know that already.
Kane has been dissatisfied on the record for months now and what manager wants to lose the Premier League’s top goalscorer and creator?
Even so — what the hell? How has it been left to August 9, four days before the season starts, for these men to speak about the future? Was Nuno too busy? Wouldn’t Harry pick up the telephone? Why does nobody find this a strange way for a football club to conduct business?
It’s not as if Tottenham are weary of having to make room in their trophy cabinet of late. This way of working, the delays, the stand-offs, the incessant haggling, has hampered so many campaigns. What might Tottenham have accomplished with more certainty, with wellrehearsed plans?
If Kane is going to Manchester City after weeks of brinkmanship, bidding, rejections, improved offers, claim and counter-claim, then how harmful is it that — while this has been unfolding — Danny Ings has grown tired of waiting and signed for Aston Villa. Smart club, Villa. Did the deal for Jack Grealish but completed all their recruitment, too, so Dean Smith would have some semblance of team shape to start the season. What does Nuno have? Maybe Kane, maybe Lautaro Martinez of Inter Milan. Maybe both, maybe neither.
Ings could have been a great deal for Tottenham. A striker with a proven Premier League record. He does not solve the problem of
replacing Kane’s assists, but he could rival him for goals — 46 in 100 games for Southampton, or one every 2.17 matches. Kane scores every 1.52 games for Tottenham, but plays in a superior team.
Who knows what Ings might have achieved with Kane’s service? He may have got near that strike rate.
Martinez would come in at more than double the price of Ings with a strike rate of one every 2.69 games for Inter.
It’s still an excellent record and he’s 23, but players from outside English football often need time to adapt — particularly those hurled in when the season is under way.
So it might have been good to talk, to see if there was a chance Kane was for turning, to reinforce the club’s stance, to set a price that gets the deal moving, to pick a way through another summer in which coherent preparation appears to be Tottenham’s last priority.
If there really is nothing left to say, why don’t they all just get on with it?