Harry Kane must be mentally right to play for Tottenham, says Nuno
Nuno Espírito Santo said he must consider whether Harry Kane is in the right frame of mind before deciding whether to select him, with Manchester City keen on concluding a deal for the Tottenham striker before the close of the transfer window.
Nuno revealed he enjoyed breakfast with Kane on Wednesday morning but the forward was left out of the Tottenham party that later travelled to Portugal for their Europa Conference League play-off first leg against Paços de Ferreira.
Kane returned to first-team training last Friday and continues to build his fitness. On Wednesday Kane, who missed Tottenham’s opening-weekend victory over City on Sunday, posted a photo on social media of him training alone at Hotspur Way with the caption: “Another session in the bank.” Nuno was noncommittal on whether Kane would be involved against Wolves in the Premier League this Sunday but admitted he would have to take the striker’s fitness and mental state into play.
“What we must be sure of is that when we decide to put a player on the pitch, we have to consider all of the aspects,” Nuno said. “The fitness, the mental aspects. We are here to support all of the players equally.
“Harry, of course, has all of our support. His fitness is getting better each day. He worked today, he is going to work tomorrow and he is going to join the group on Friday. On Saturday we will make the decision on who is going to be involved in the next [league] game.” Nuno cut a relaxed figure and insisted the outside noise surrounding Kane, who is keen on joining City, will not distract him or the Spurs squad.
“Maybe I am the only one who does not really care about what is being said or written on the outside,” he said. “With all my respect, it does not really matter. What matters is what is happening behind the doors and what is happening behind the doors is Harry is our player. We don’t really pay much attention to what is being said on the outside regarding the situation of Harry. Harry is our player, one of the best players in the world and we are very lucky to have him.”
Nuno said none of the players that started Tottenham’s victory against Manchester City will feature on Thursday. He is expected to field a youthful team, with the 17-year-old striker Dane Scarlett set to make his full debut. Joe Rodon will miss the game with a minor complaint aggravated in training.
“We have big, big expectations regarding Dane because he did so well in pre-season,” Nuno said. “He is a young talent that we want to develop. We want to make him better, we want to make him grow. There is a lot of potential there.”
The Tottenham defender Ben Davies said Nuno, the former Wolves head coach, had been a breath of fresh
air since replacing José Mourinho in the summer. “He’s been very good with us. The training has been very good, it’s been refreshing, we’re working hard and he has really [built] a togetherness within the group and I think that showed in our first result last weekend.”