Harry Kane has issued a transfer message to his fellow Tottenham Hotspur stars after admitting that exit speculation has hindered the club's start to the season.
Spurs came into the new campaign on the back of four consecutive top-four finishes but have struggled in the early going, losing 2-1 at Leicester City last time out in the Premier League.
Tottenham made some major moves in the summer transfer window by signing the likes of Tanguy Ndombele, Giovani Lo Celso and Ryan Sessegnon, but the club have also been treated to reports aplenty about some key players potentially leaving the club.
Danny Rose, Toby Alderweireld and Christian Eriksen are three of the players who have been heavily linked with departures, with Eriksen in particular leading the way in the transfer talk stakes thanks to Real Madrid's reported interest.
Kane has now admitted that Tottenham's start to the season, which has included defeats to Newcastle United and Leicester, has been affected by the transfer rumours and now he's called on his wantaway team-mates to focus on the matters atand.
"Obviously in the transfer window just gone, there were players who maybe wanted to leave, and it was public knowledge that there were players close to leaving who stayed," Kane told Sky Sports.
"So it's never easy when you have a situation like that, but now that's closed, we all just want to move in the right direction.
"Whoever is on the pitch has to give everything for the club, that's all we can ask for.
"You have to kind of put your individual needs to one side and make sure you're performing to the highest level, because that will help your individual status anyway."
Following Spurs' shock defeat against Colchester United in the Carabao Cup, Mauricio Pochettino said that he plans to use the January transfer window to address the issues in his squad.
"Look, I am only telling you how I feel. We are working so hard to try and put on the same page," Pochettino said. "We need time, we are going to have time to fix that.
"January is going to be a good opportunity to try and fix this type of situation and sort it.
"Then the next transfer window, again. That’s the problem when something happens and you cannot control – this type of situation can arrive. I’m more than happy to be in that situation, it means we are human.
"To keep the successful period in football you need to be different every single season and act differently and find different solution.
"Maybe we need to do something different and we are trying to find the way to start to perform and get the results we expect."
