Antonio Conte ‘really surprised’ by Harry Kane’s desire to improve at Tottenham

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Malik Ouzia @MalikOuzia_21 January 2022

Antonio Conte says he has been “really surprised in a positive way” by Harry Kane’s desire to improve as the Tottenham striker closes on a return to top form.

Kane has endured a difficult season off the back of a summer in which he had hoped to leave the club and scored just once in his first 13 Premier League appearances.

However, he has found the net four times in his last five league games since the middle of December and might have had a hat-trick in Wednesday night’s dramatic victory over Leicester, during which he also set up Steven Bergwijn’s stoppage time winner with a superb pass.

In an interview with Sky Sports this week, Kane spoke of Tottenham’s need to “take advantage” of having a world class coach at the helm in Conte and the Italian was in similarly complimentary mood when speaking about the forward ahead of Sunday’s trip to Chelsea.

“Harry has shown to the club a great commitment and he shows every day great day great attitude and great behaviour,” he said. “And we are talking about a world class striker and a fantastic player. If you see the goal that he scored against Leicester and the assist that he made for the Bergwijn goal, I think that you understand that the quality and the debate about this player.

“And above this, we are talking about a really good guy, a person, an honest person and a person that want to work very hard to to improve.

“And you can think that this is normal but honestly, sometimes you can find players with great talent but are lazy or that doesn’t want to to put themselves to the service of the of the team. Instead Harry has all these qualities and honestly I am really surprised in a positive way you know to see all these positive characteristic about a player.”

Kane failed with his exit wish last summer, a move to Manchester City failing to materialise as Daniel Levy stood firm in a bid to keep the club’s talisman.

Conte was quizzed on Friday as to whether he felt Kane was now ready to stay at Spurs longer term, or whether another transfer saga was likely to ensure in the summer, but he would not be drawn.

“As you know very well now it’s important it’s important to to be focused on the present,” he added.

“I think that to look too much forward is not good because now to try to be something in the present and to be together with a will, with the right will, with the right desire to work very hard and to try to improve our situation. I think this is the most important thing in this in this moment.”

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