Tottenham: Harry Kane teases him with ‘Ange-Ball’ as final transfer decision draws closer
Arry Kane’s future remains uncertain but one thing couldn’t be clearer: he would score a ton for Ange Postecoglou’s ultra-attacking side.
Kane offered Spurs a tantalizing glimpse of what could be possible next season and provided a timely reminder of his importance to the club with four goals in yesterday’s 5-1 friendly win over Shakhtar Donetsk.
As it stands, only US-based CEO Daniel Levy may know if Kane is likely to still be a Spurs player in September, and Postecoglou certainly remains in the dark.
“That is what I said [the club] “If the status quo changes, let me know,” Postecoglou said after yesterday’s game. “I just want to deal with what’s ahead because regardless of the outcome [Kane’s situation]”I’m building a team here.”
Even Kane, who continued as captain of the pre-season, seems a little unsure what to expect and there was no farewell yesterday, although he did a usual lap around the pitch to applause from the fans afterwards.
“I don’t even know what’s on Harry’s mind, let alone anyone else’s,” Postecoglou added. “All of these things will play out in the near future. We’ll take care of what happens from there.”
Despite his interest in hearing a proposal from Bayern Munich, Kane is clearly focused on the task at hand, as evidenced by his determined performance against Shakhtar in a friendly aimed at raising funds for the people of war-torn Ukraine to collect. He has been joined twice by James Maddison – hinting at a potentially fruitful partnership – and once each by Dejan Kulusevski and Manor Solomon.
Given the Spurs’ renewed offensive prowess under Postecoglou, the 30 league goals Kane scored for Antonio Conte’s staid side last season could easily be surpassed – a selling point that hasn’t escaped the head coach.
“The team’s style of play will also help him,” said Postecoglou. “He loves to score goals. We created a lot of chances and he took advantage of that.”
While there certainly won’t be a repeat of what happened two years ago, when Kane pushed for a move to Manchester City and then sat out their first-day win against the champions, it remains firmly in Spurs’ interest to see his future decided don’t delay.
Yesterday Postecoglou downplayed the discussion that Bayern had given Spurs a deadline to act on their recent offer for Kane, hinting that the end of the window was the only real closing point for a deal but it would weigh on the head coach , when his talisman would be sold towards the end of the month.
Postecoglou’s side are taking on encouraging form – even if he was “not happy” with some aspects of yesterday’s performance and believes there is still “a lot of work to be done” to change the mindset of his players – and Kane is currently the striking one Heart of Postecoglou its reconstruction.
He has played in all three pre-season friendlies so far and if Spurs still haven’t accepted Bayern’s latest offer, he is expected to continue tomorrow in the final warm-up game against Barcelona before they start the season in Brentford on Sunday.
“I can barely wait for it [around] “We have to choose one way or the other to get started,” Postecoglou said. “We don’t have the time or the luxury to do that.”
Postecoglou was unable to use Richarlison yesterday as the Brazilian was out with a stroke but expected to return against Barca and instead Kane was replaced for the last 10 minutes by youngster Dane Scarlett who scored.
Should Spurs reluctantly sell Kane to prevent him losing him on a free transfer next summer when his contract expires, Richarlison would be the obvious replacement, but Brazil’s No9 is a very different player and prefers few touches to Kanes many.
As the season approaches, Postecoglou needs to know whether to build a team around Kane for at least a year or start a new era without him.
https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/tottenham-kane-postecoglou-shakhtar-transfer-b1099096.html Tottenham: Harry Kane teases him with ‘Ange-Ball’ as final transfer decision draws closer
