MY ACCOUNT
Harry Kane heard Manchester United fans chanting his name but insists his full attention is on securing a lofty Premier League finish for Tottenham.
Striker Kane was captain in the absence of injured goalkeeper Hugo Lloris as Tottenham fought back from 2-0 down for a 2-2 draw with United on Thursday.
The result came in the wake of senior Spurs players meeting on Monday with chairman Daniel Levy to discuss the team’s faltering campaign, which came to a head with Sunday’s 6-1 pasting at Newcastle United.
Not long after that meeting, interim head coach Cristian Stellini was ousted from his role and the popular Ryan Mason was given a chance to lead the team.
When Spurs put in a rocky first-half display against United, going behind to goals from Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford, the picture for the north London hosts looked increasingly gloomy.
It would have hurt Tottenham supporters to hear United fans chanting “Harry Kane, we’ll see you in June”, amid recent transfer speculation, but the man himself shrugged that off.
“I heard what they were saying, but I’m just focused on this team and trying to finish strongly,” Kane said.
The 29-year-old England skipper has a year remaining on his Tottenham contract, and the coming close season may be the club’s best chance to earn a handsome transfer fee if their record scorer decides the exit door really does beckon.
Levy will have Kane’s future high on his list of priorities, but for the moment the priority of everyone from the chairman down is on finishing the season strongly.
The Newcastle result pointed to Spurs being in disarray, but Mason’s players showed a greater spark against Erik ten Hag’s United, and Kane felt the discussions with Levy have proven worthwhile.
“I think it was important [for Levy] to understand where the players’ heads were at in that moment,” Kane said. “It was an honest conversation of where everyone is at and what we need to try to do to give us the best possible chance to finish the season with something.
“We’re still fighting for fourth place, but if it’s not fourth, we’ll try to finish fifth or sixth – as high up as we can. In this league, it’s so competitive, you can easily end up eighth or ninth if you’re not careful.”
Kane said he was “glad we reacted like that” against United, ahead of a trip to face Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.
Spurs sit fifth in the Premier League, but their grip on that position is tenuous. In-form Aston Villa are on the same points mark in sixth place, while Liverpool are a point back with a game in hand and Brighton and Hove Albion sit five points behind but have three games in hand.
