Troy Deeney expects Harry Kane will have a point to prove when Tottenham Hotspur visit Manchester City after his transfer fell through last summer, via his column for The Sun.
However, the Birmingham striker questions how many chances Antonio Conte’s side can produce for Kane to deliver. Spurs travel to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening on a run of three-straight Premier League defeats, as their top-four hopes take a huge dent.
Spurs sat fifth in the table just a point from West Ham in the last of the Champions League places after their last win on January 19. They also had three games in hand over the Irons after beating Leicester. But losing to Chelsea, Southampton and Wolves has them in eighth.
Tottenham still have three games in hand over Manchester United, who now sit fourth, but trail by seven-points. Kane has also not scored since netting just his fifth goal of the season at Leicester. He has struck home four of his top-flight haul so far since Spurs hired Conte.
Guardiola confirms failed Manchester City transfer for Kane
Pep Guardiola has confirmed ahead of Manchester City hosting Tottenham that he sought to secure Kane’s transfer last year. The Etihad boss has noted, via The Sun: “We tried but it was far away from being done because Tottenham were clear this is not going to happen.
“And when that happens two, three, four times, it’s over… Now you can say, ‘Harry Kane didn’t come and everything is going well [at City]’. But at the time I didn’t know it [would].”
Manchester City only submitted one formal offer to Tottenham for Kane’s transfer, per The Telegraph, however. The Citizens also only bid £75m rising £25m after add-ons, but Spurs Chairman Daniel Levy refused to negotiate without Guardiola offering £120m guaranteed.
Levy additionally wanted the total package for Kane’s transfer to Manchester City be worth £160m for Tottenham, per The Sun. Even though the England captain had informed Spurs last summer he wanted to leave north London for the second year running, per Sky Sports.
Deeney expects Tottenham’s Kane wants to ‘prove people wrong’ vs Man City
Deeney expects the summer of transfer gossip will still be on Kane’s mind when Tottenham visit Manchester City on Saturday. He also feels the forward will want to prove he is still the star who won the Golden Boot with 23 goals and offered a league-high 14 assists last term.
“Kane will have limited chances to show how good he is at the Etihad in a Spurs shirt. Just look how bad Antonio Conte’s side have been recently,” Deeney wrote.
“But Kane will want to prove people wrong. He will also want to get back in that conversation of being one of the world’s best strikers.”
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