Tottenham fans have reacted with outrage after Harry Kane failed to show up for training having returned from his summer break.
Kane was due at the club’s training ground on Monday to undertake Covid tests, before partaking in pre-season training with less than two weeks remaining until the Premier League season gets underway.
His no-show is the latest twist in Kane’s summer saga, which he kickstarted before the 2020/21 season had even ended, revealing to Gary Neville in an interview for ‘The Overlap’ that his ‘crossroads moment’ had now come, reiterating his intention to win trophies and revealing his desire to play alongside Kevin De Bruyne.
Tottenham vice-captain and talisman Harry Kane failed to report to training on Monday
Kane has been heavily linked with Manchester City ever since, with reports on Sunday stating that he would tell Tottenham of his desire to leave once more upon his return.
Tottenham have remained bullish in their stance throughout the summer, with Daniel Levy refusing to even entertain any negotiations without a bid of at least £150million, while new boss Nuno Espirito Santo has insisted he has ‘no doubts’ about the star’s future with Spurs.
Kane believes he has a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ with Levy to leave this summer, but that has not softened the blow for the Tottenham fans, with some suggesting the 28-year-old should be fined, even sent to train with the reserves.
Tottenham fans have been left enraged by Kane’s failure to report to the club on Monday
One fan took to Twitter to write: ‘Fine him and stick him in the reserves. Absolute lack of professionalism. He’s happy to take the £200k per week the club pay him.’
Another wrote: ‘If this is true Harry Kane should lose the England captaincy. The England captain should always be a role model for young players. And to not show up for training for the club that’s paying you! And you have a contract with is so disrespectful and unprofessional. Shame on Kane.’
‘If kane doesn’t turn up at all, he can go no one’s bigger than the club,’ another fan wrote. ‘I fully support it if Levy plays him in the u23s or sells him.’
New boss Nuno Espirito Santo previously insisted he had ‘no doubt’ that Kane would stay
But Kane is still pushing for a move to Manchester City and join his England team-mates
Mauricio Pochettino talked of the need for a ‘painful rebuild’ prior to his sacking and eventual replacement by Jose Mourinho, though few Tottenham fans would have anticipated Kane’s departure would be a part of that.
Kane has scored 221 goals in 336 games for the north London club, and his record-breaking partnership with Son Heung-min was pivotal last season as Tottenham secured seventh-spot and a place in the Europa Conference League.
But we’ve seen what an influx of money can do for a club in the past, with Liverpool elevating a level following Philippe Coutinho’ exit, after which they bought the likes of Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk with the £142m brought in.
A number of Tottenham fans now believe it’s the time to move Kane on in an effort to rebuild the team.
There are some fans who believe now is the right time to sell Kane and focus on a rebuild
‘Just sell him,’ one fan wrote. ‘This has already dragged on long enough. Anyone that doesn’t want to play for Tottenham can go, no one is bigger than this club’.
Referring to the possibility of a cash-plus-player deal with City, one fan wrote: ‘This is going to get messy. Take £120m and Laporte and move on. Lautaro Martinez, Damsgaard and Romero with the money.’
Another wrote: ‘Just sell him ffs before this turns nasty… absolutely no point in keeping a player who doesn’t want to be there.’
‘Sell him, take what we can to rebuild this team even if it’s a player + cash deal,’ one fan wrote. ‘This club has been toxic for the past 3 years I’m done with it, lets move on!’
Meanwhile, Tottenham are due to find out their Europa Conference League play-off opponents today, which the club pointed the fans towards via social media, only a matter of minutes after the Kane news broke.
And it’s fair to say, the fans didn’t appreciate the timing.
One fan replied to the Tweet, saying: It’s disappointing that there is no official word on the information surrounding Harry Kane. It’s best if the truth came out.’
Another wrote: ‘Kane on the verge of leaving and we’re tweeting about our Europa Conference league playoff opponents. Can’t get any worse than this.’
Tottenham fans were less than pleased by the timing of their club’s Tweet about the impending Europa Conference League play-off draw