Fans turn on Kane over his plans to leave

Tottenham striker left out of opening game against suitors Nuno defiant as club await record offer from champions

Harry Kane hopes Manchester City will this week finally make a British record bid to try to sign him after the striker was left out of the Tottenham Hotspur squad when the two sides met yesterday.

Nuno Espirito Santo, the Tottenham head coach, continued to insist Kane would remain at the club and would play once he had proven his fitness, having returned to full training only on Friday.

As Spurs defeated the champions 1-0 with a goal from Son Heungmin, playing in Kane’s role as a central striker, the home fans sang: “Are you watching Harry Kane?” It was an angry reaction to the forward’s continued desire to leave.

Kane trained separately from the squad yesterday morning and did not travel with the rest of the players to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

When asked about Kane’s absence, Nuno said: “He is continuing his preparation, the delay [in returning], all these things. I think Harry needs to work, he worked today and he will keep on working until he is ready for the team.

“Players who have had not too many sessions need more work with us, need to be fit. Different cases of [new signings] Bryan [Gil] because he came from the Olympic Games and also [Cristian] Romero. I think for them it’s important to be here, to feel the stadium, feel the hotel, the meeting, all the processes that we have, it’s important.”

Asked specifically whether Kane was in the stadium, Nuno said: “He worked in the morning, I don’t know what he is going to do [to watch the game],” before adding: “He is preparing himself for when he is ready to join the group and help the team.

“Look, Harry Kane is one of the best players in the world, honestly. We are very lucky to have him. He has to get ready and help the team. We still have to go to Portugal [for the Europa Conference League qualifier against Pacos de Ferreira], then we think about Wolves.”

Son insisted that Kane’s desire to leave Spurs was not a distraction for the rest of the players.

“We are all professional,” he said. “We wanted to focus on this game, no matter who is involved or not. Obviously Harry is so, so important for us. But let’s see. Last season we didn’t start well against Everton, so we started well. I just want to enjoy this afterwards.”

There is a sense that City had to get this fixture out of the way

before they could make a concerted attempt to sign Kane

with indications that they are prepared to offer £120million plus addons. It would eclipse the £100million they paid for Jack Grealish – who made his Premier League debut for them against Spurs – after they triggered his Aston Villa release clause.

Spurs continue to insist that they have no interest in selling Kane and that City have already left it too late, with just two weeks left of the transfer window, to enter into any meaningful negotiations. Sources also suggest chairman Daniel Levy’s valuation of the 28-year-old forward, who has three years left on his contract, remains around £160million – a price City are not prepared to pay.

There is therefore a feeling that if City have any hope of doing a deal they have to move quickly and decisively this week to persuade Spurs finally to negotiate.

Although City manager Pep Guardiola would love to sign Kane, he insisted that he could cope without him despite the defeat and having not yet replaced Sergio Aguero.

“We are the same people as last season when we scored lots of goals. Sergio has gone, but he played just seven games and we won the Premier League,” he said. “It has happened, we were there, we arrived many times and today we could not score and it is the same mystery. We are good enough to score a goal.”