England striker Harry Kane announced on Wednesday that he will remain at Tottenham this season and will focus "100%" on helping the team achieve success, ending speculation about a possible move to Premier League champions Manchester City.
The England captain wrote on Twitter: "It's been great to see the reception for the Spurs fans on Sunday, and to read some messages of support in the past few weeks. I will be staying at Spurs this summer and my focus will be 100 per cent on helping the team succeed."
The 28-year-old was a strong candidate to move to Manchester City, and England champion coach Pep Guardiola had previously said - in August - that it was up to Tottenham to complete this deal.
Kane's departure brings Ronaldo closer
Tottenham's failure to include Kane in favor of Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, who said that he wants to leave Juventus this summer and that his agent contacted Manchester City to be the next destination for Don, but he collided with Guardiola's urgent desire to include the Premier League and Tottenham top scorer and his preference over Ronaldo for his young age.
In conjunction with Kane’s announcement, there were reports that expected Ronaldo to leave the Italian league and move to City to return to the Premier League 12 years after his departure from Manchester United to Real Madrid.
Ronaldo and his agent are racing against time to find a suitable destination before the summer transfer window closes. Of course, Manchester City comes at the top of his priorities, to compete for major tournaments and have enough money to meet Ronaldo's big salary, which exceeds 30 million euros annually.
Nono welcomes Beijing
Tottenham coach Nuno Espirito Santo welcomed the news of Kane's survival, describing him as "one of the best players in the world".
"It's great news," he said. "I think since Harry joined us he's been training hard, so that's what we appreciate. His approach to training has been excellent. It's over, Harry will stay with us."
Kane, who signed a six-year contract with Tottenham in 2018, was looking forward to a new challenge, but it seemed that City's offer - which the media had speculated to be worth 100 million pounds ($137.10 million) - was not enough to convince the London club to leave its top scorer.
Kane joined Tottenham's pre-season training late, after participating in the European Championship 2020, and missed the team's first two matches against City in the Premier League and Pacos de Ferreira in the European Conference qualifiers.
Kane returned to participate in the matches as a substitute at Wolverhampton Wanderers last Sunday, and received a great reception from Tottenham fans at Wolverhampton Stadium.
Nuno said Kane could participate in the return leg against Pacos de Ferreira on Thursday, as the London team lost 1-0 away in the first leg.
Tottenham won their first two league matches, and will host Watford on Sunday.