Here are your Tottenham Hotspur headlines for the evening of Monday, October 19.
Vinicius will play his part
Harry Kane is in the form of his life, scoring eight goals and notching 10 assists in just nine matches for Tottenham Hotspur so far this season.
Given the Spurs captain's displays, it’s difficult to envisage a role for new signing Carlos Vinicius, the Brazilian striker who made a loan move to north London from Benfica in the summer transfer window.
However, football.london’s Alasdair Gold has detailed how Vinicius will still play a key role for Tottenham over the course of the campaign, with the blistering form of Kane and Son-Heung Min unsustainable across a 50-plus game season.
Vinicius gives Jose Mourinho the option of rotation, meaning Kane can be rested more frequently. This could help the 27-year-old produce these sort of all-action performances when they really matter.
What happened after West Ham collapse
At the same time that Mourinho was fronting up to the media after Tottenham's dramatic collapse to West Ham on Monday, an unusual thing was happening on the pitch.
All of the members of the Spurs squad who didn’t feature in the match, plus Lucas Moura and Harry Winks, appeared to take part in a full training session which involved passing drills and a small-sided game.
Dele Alli, left out of the match-day squad yet again, participated in the session, as did new signing from Swansea City Joe Rodon who has yet to feature in a top-flight match.
Rodon is unable to play against LASK on Thursday having missed the Europa League registration deadline, but could make his debut in Sunday’s Premier League fixture against Burnley.
Former Spurs striker warns club over Kane’s future
Darren Bent has warned Tottenham that Harry Kane could look to make a blockbuster transfer next summer with the striker in the best form of his career.
Kane has scored eight goals and registered 10 assists in nine matches this term, but Bent believes the 27-year-old may have his eyes on a switch to take himself to the next level.
“At the moment he’s the complete package,” former Spurs striker Bent told talkSPORT. “But I do fear for Spurs a little bit. If they don’t win anything again this season and, as well as Harry Kane’s playing now, what does he do?
“Does he stay there again for the sake of it because he loves the club? Or does he go on to another level? Someone of that quality needs to be playing in the Champions League. If I was Harry Kane I’d probably give it one more year and see what happens.
“But the problem is we’ve been saying that for the last few years now, and really, if he wins the EFL Cup, is that going to be enough for him to say, ‘I like what Spurs are doing, I’m going to stay’? No.
“If the top crop, the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona, come in for him, it’s not even a question. If they come in for him at the end of the season, you go.”
