Harry Kane: Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho unwilling to take risks over striker's fitness despite injury boost

Dan Kilpatrick @Dan_KP28 February 2020

Jose Mourinho says there is "no chance" Tottenham will take risks with Harry Kane's fitness after the England captain began working outdoors this week.

The Spurs manager said Kane is ahead of the schedule in his recovery from surgery on a torn hamstring tendon and suggested he could be available for the final five matches of the campaign, from mid-April.

Kane has a history of returning from injury quickly and he recovered from ankle ligament damage to start last season's Champions League Final, having not featured for the previous six weeks.

He also returned sooner expected in April 2018, ahead of the World Cup, and Mourinho has acknowledged that is he not a player who is willing to "accept protocols".

Asked if the club needs to realistic about Kane’s latest recovery, Mourinho said: "That is what we are going to be.

No rush: Mourinho says he will not risk Harry Kane as the striker eyes a swift return to action  Photo: Action Images via Reuters
Action Images via Reuters

"Tottenham doesn’t end in May. There is going to be Tottenham for many, many years so we would never risk Harry in a difficult situation. No chance. He is going to be back when he is ready to be back."

Kane was quiet in the defeat to Liverpool in the Champions League Final but Mourinho refused to blame the 26-year-old or his predecessor Mauricio Pochettino for his involvement.

"I would play only with one leg if I was a player and I was playing in a Champions League final," said the Portuguese, who won the competition with Porto and Inter Milan.

"With crutches. How can you stop a player playing in a Champions League final? Every player breaks protocols to play a Champions League final or a cup final. There are some matches where protocols mean nothing, nothing.

"So if that was the case, I think it isn’t the case to blame Harry or medical departments. That is just the nature of the way football is."

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In the absence of Kane and Heung-min Son, who is sidelined with a fractured arm, Spurs have relied on Lucas Moura and Steven Bergwijn as auxiliary attackers and Mourinho believes the pair will benefit from the change of role in the long-term.

"For Lucas, for Bergwijn, for these wingers to be playing the way that they are playing, and are probably going to play until the end of the season, is going to make them better players when they come to the inside," he added.

"They are players that normally play in the corridor. In this moment, they are learning how to play inside. So I believe they are going to be better wingers in the future because then they can mix their game in the corridor and their game when they come to the central areas. So it is an accumulation of experience.

"It would be easier for us to have Kane, Son and [Moussa] Sissoko plus Lucas, [Erik] Lamela and Bergwijn but I think in the end, we have to see the positive side.

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"This is what I call tactical culture. A football player is not just about technical quality or the physical condition. It has a lot to do with tactical culture. Our wingers are going to be better wingers when they go back to their normal position."

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