The dust had not even been created at the old White Hart Lane before Harry Kane’s thoughts turned to the future. As the bulldozers prepared to begin their 12-week demolition job on Tottenham Hotspur’s home since 1899, starting with the playing surface and the North Stand, it was left to the local lad and talisman to reflect on what might be still to come for Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
“It was special out there today but imagine what it would be like winning a Premier League, or winning an FA Cup or a Champions League or something. That’s got to be the next celebration,” Kane said. “That’s got to be our next step. We’re young but we’re getting more experience year in, year out. We’ve just got to go and make it happen. We’ve got the team, we’ve got the belief, so next season hopefully it’s our year.”
Kane and his team-mates could be forgiven for counting themselves unlucky that their time has not already arrived. Victories in their final two fixtures – at Leicester on Thursday and at relegated Hull on Sunday – would take them to 86 points, a tally that would have been enough to win the Premier League on 10 previous occasions. There are no prizes either for having been the most consistent side in the country over the past two campaigns, suffering only 10 defeats in accumulating 10 points more than their nearest rivals, Arsenal.
But as Tottenham’s players past and present savoured the atmosphere after their final appearance at the famous old stadium in the 2-1 win against Manchester United, the United manager, José Mourinho, was making his assertion that those teams who finish in the top four but will end the season without a trophy may just be slightly envious of his side’s League Cup triumph and the forthcoming Europa League final against Ajax. It was a subtle dig yet one that will no doubt have rankled with Pochettino.
Next season will mark a decade since Tottenham won their last piece of silverware, in the League Cup under Juande Ramos. If that barren run is to be ended, then their current manager will have to do it the hard way. Pochettino’s side will be moving from a home ground where they dropped only four points and scored 47 goals this season to Wembley, a venue where Spurs have won only twice in 10 appearances since 2007.
“We’ve got to believe,” Kane said. “I think we had 30-odd thousand throughout the whole season, we’re going to have 80-odd thousand next year so we’ve got to make that a fortress as well. We finished third last season, second this year – we’ve got to try and take that next step and try and finish first. Everything is heading in the right direction but we’ve got to go out there and do it.”
The threat of losing some of their prize assets this summer also looms large. Kyle Walker’s apparent falling out with Pochettino could be a sign of things to come given the club’s wage structures under the chairman, Daniel Levy, with the England right-back reported to have been offered the chance to double his £70,000-a-week salary at Manchester City.
Losing Walker would be one thing but should players such as Toby Alderweireld, Dele Alli or Christian Eriksen decide to follow suit, Levy would have a major problem at a time when finances are constricted by the costs of the new stadium. Kane – who, along with the club captain, Hugo Lloris, is the club’s highest-paid player at around £100,000 a week – is certainly hoping the vultures will not be circling over Tottenham’s training ground in Enfield. “Of course there’s going to be rumours over the summer but I think I’d be very surprised if most of us aren’t still here next season,” he said.
“Of course papers and people are going to talk on social media and everything but at the end of the day the most important thing is us on the pitch doing our job. We work so hard as a group and the staff, the manager, and there’s not many better teams to be at around the world at the moment. We’ve got a very bright future, a great squad, a team that’s hungry to win and to learn and to get better.”
Keeping Pochettino happy, of course, will be key to all of that. Adding some depth to his squad – particularly as backup to Kane – will be top of the former Argentina defender’s wishlist this summer, although whether they have the funds to compete with some of the riches on offer elsewhere remains to be seen.
In all likelihood the Tottenham manager will also have the opportunity to move on this summer, given the number of potential suitors out there. But the sense that Pochettino is building something special appears unavoidable to Kane at least.
“We’re going into bigger and better things and the new stadium is going to be unbelievable. It just shows the progression the club is making,” he said.
“Everyone just has a special connection here – the club legends that have gone past and walked out today, and the team we have got now and the staff and the manager. It’s a special bond and I don’t think you always get that at clubs. That’s why we’ve got to hold on to that, make that motivate us to hopefully be out there next year at Wembley lifting the Premier League together.”
