Harry Kane says he will return to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, having missed what was to be the first week of his preseason program, but the vice captain for Spurs insists he has never refused to train for his club.
Kane was due to attend Hotspur Way on Monday for initial medical tests but has not yet joined up with his club. The England captain wants to join Manchester City and believes he has a gentleman's agreement with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy to leave the club. However, City's sole bid for him, which came in July and valued him at $140 million, was rejected by Spurs.
CBS Sports reported earlier this week that Kane was planning to return to Spurs training this week though it remains highly unlikely that he will feature in his side's opening game, ironically against Manchester City.
In a statement posted on social media, Kane said: "It's almost 10 years since I made my Spurs debut. For every one of those years, you -- the fans -- have shown me total support and love. That's why it hurts to read some of the comments that have been made this week, questioning my professionalism.
"While I won't go into the specifics of the situation, I want to clarify that I would never, and have never, refused to train. I will be returning to the club tomorrow, as planned. I wouldn't do anything to jeopardize the relationship I have with the fans who have given me such unwavering support during my time with the club. This has always been the case as it is today."
— Harry Kane (@HKane) August 6, 2021
Kane's statement does not, however, explain why if the plan had always been for him to join up with the squad Saturday that was not communicated more widely when he was not spotted on Monday. Equally, there was no explanation as to why he would allow headlines to swirl over his future for so long without correcting what would, on the basis of what he is saying, appear to be a simple factual mistake. Similarly, Tottenham head coach Nuno Espirito Santo did not correct the narrative Wednesday, one where he acknowledged that he had not spoken to Kane.
Nuno endeavoured to keep talk about his star striker in house after the 2-2 draw with Chelsea, but acknowledged that there was a need to build bridges with Kane. "It's not that I don't want to comment," he said in a tense press conference. "I think all this issue surrounding Harry we should discuss internally to avoid any kind of public argument and discussion. We have to solve the problem but first between us."
The 28-year-old has reportedly been in Florida this week. The United States is on the United Kingdom's amber list of countries, meaning that if Kane is not fully vaccinated against COVID-19, he must quarantine for 10 days.
