The football season has entered March and that usually means an annual question is about to be asked regarding Harry Kane. The Tottenham Hotspur striker has established himself as the club’s greatest ever goalscorer with 268 goals to his name.
It has always been felt that this was a milestone that Kane wanted to personally achieve, surpassing the previous record of 266 set by the late Jimmy Greaves. But even before he came close to taking this record for himself, at this point of a season people would usually start to question whether or not the the time is right for the England captain to quit north London and move on so he can end his career with some silverware.
For years the striker has been one of the most sought-after players in his position in the world but has rarely been subject to a barrage of transfer bids due to Spurs’ resilient attitude ib stating that he wasn't available. The closest we’ve seen him get to the exit door was summer 2021 when Manchester City pushed really hard to bring Kane in as Sergio Aguero’s replacement.
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The 29-year-old attacker was believed to be interested in the move at the time too, given how Spurs had rapidly declined after their Champions League final appearance in 2019 under former boss Mauricio Pochettino. The player was rightly dejected, with Spurs seemingly having no direction after enduring Jose Mourinho and Nuno Espirito Santo. That was until Antonio Conte came along.
The experienced Italian coach was long labelled as Spurs’ ‘must have target’ and the club did really well to get him on board to replace Nuno. Conte had an immediate impact at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Spurs’ front three of Kane, Son Heung-min and Dejan Kulusevski arguably the best attack in the Premier League in the second half of the 2021-22 campaign.
However, that form has not been carried over to the current season, with only Kane having a good season on a personal level out of the trio. The team and Conte have come under a lot of fire this year for poor results, coupled with bad performances and for being consistently inconsistent.
Fans and pundits are torn on Conte’s position at the club given that Spurs were expected to at least challenge for domestic silverware this year, but to no one’s surprise another two opportunities have passed them by. They crashed out of the Carabao Cup in the third round to Nottingham Forest before exiting the FA Cup at the fifth round to Sheffield United a week ago.
Since Kane cemented a place in the Spurs lineup he has only ever been involved in three cup finals (two Carabao Cup and one Champions League), further highlighting just how toothless his side have been when it comes to securing some silverware.
This is where the term ‘Spursy’ is given authenticity because no matter what the circumstances are each year, they cannot find a way to break their 15-year long wait for a trophy. And as that wait goes on, so will Kane’s patience. After all, if serial winner Conte cannot help Spurs break their trophyless curse, then who can?
Tottenham’s remaining chance to break the duck this year comes in the Champions League, and there are far tougher opponents still in this competition than those they crashed out to in the domestic cups. Kane and co welcome AC Milan to their home turf on Wednesday evening for the second leg of their round of 16 tie. They are 1-0 down from the away leg but gave a good second half showing at San Siro to give fans hope for the home leg.
Spurs simply have to win this tie or they could well lose their greatest asset. It is safe to say that Kane is their best chance for a trophy, yet not enough as history shows us. Kane only has a little over a year remaining on his current contract and if the club have suffered premature exits in all cup competitions and were to also miss out on a top-four spot in the Premier League, he would seriously be questioning his future and his legacy on the sport outside of north London.
Kane is one of the greatest talents this country has produced. He is an outstanding goalscorer and an equally talented creator. He has all the attributes to become a serial winner, he's just not at the right club. The forward will be turning 30 in the summer, which means that time is slowly running out for him to leave football decorated with trophies. The only question is where does he go to make that a reality?
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