Santo wants transfer window to close and end Kane saga
Harry Kane is in Tottenham Hotspur's squad for their Europa Conference League tie this week, as manager Nuno Espirito Santo admits he cannot wait for the transfer window to close and end speculation over the striker's future.
Santo started his Spurs reign with a 1-0 win over English Premier League champions Manchester City on Sunday, with much of the pre-match talk on Kane's potential move to City.
The England captain - who has three years remaining on his Spurs contract - stayed away from the match, having only resumed training last week.
The Times claims it is expected Kane will remain for one more season due to City's reluctance to meet Spurs chairman Daniel Levy's reported asking price of £160 million (S$300.9m).
The 28-year-old was yesterday named in Spurs' strong 25-man squad for the Europa Conference League play-off against Portuguese side Pacos de Ferreira on Friday morning (Singapore time).
"We have our squad, we have our Spurs players," Santo told the BBC yesterday. "We have to commit them but we have to know that 31st of August is sometimes not in your hands.
"All the managers in the Premier League have the same feeling that I have - trying to finish the window and settle down."
Santo said he expected Kane to remain at the north London club, though he added he has enough experience to know Spurs should keep their options open regarding a move for a replacement.
"Harry is (training) with us, he worked on Sunday morning and he's getting ready to help the team," he said.
"We don't expect (something to happen before the transfer deadline but) we have to be ready to act if necessary because until the 31st (of August), anything can happen in football."
Kane was not missed as Spurs secured a third successive home league win over City.
Santo set up his Spurs side to defend calmly and counter-attack. It was from one devastating link-up between Lucas Moura, Steven Bergwijn and Son Heung-min that Son scored the 55th-minute winner.
There were also impressive performances from Spurs right-back Japhet Tanganga, who kept City's £100m signing Jack Grealish quiet, while midfielder Oliver Skipp looked assured on just his fourth EPL start.
When asked if the team had been affected by Kane's transfer saga, Son said: "We are all professional. We wanted to focus on this game.
"It doesn't matter who's involved and who's not. Obviously, Harry's so, so important for us." - AFP, REUTERS
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