Tottenham striker Harry Kane has said he will not let speculation about his future distract him this summer; Roy Keane has urged the England captain to change clubs in order to win the silverware his status deserves
Monday 29 March 2021 13:58, UK
Jermain Defoe has clarified comments in which he suggested Harry Kane must leave Tottenham to win trophies.
On Sunday, the former Tottenham striker suggested to talkSPORT that his former team-mate for club and country may need to leave Spurs in order to win trophies.
Kane, who will turn 28 in July, has yet to win a major trophy with Tottenham. He has two runners-up medals in the League Cup (2015) and the Champions League (2019).
The Rangers forward said: "You have to win and bring silverware, otherwise it's not good enough. When you actually achieve that and the feeling you get from that, wow man. I wish I had that earlier on in my career.
"If Harry Kane wants that and wants to win trophies then it looks like he has to go.
"I don't think it will be easy for him to leave and he might be looking at it and want to finish off being the highest goal scorer in the club's history and see where that takes him.
"He can hopefully win a few trophies, but if he's really craving medals then he really has to go."
However, Defoe posted a video message on Twitter on Monday morning to explain what he meant.
Defoe said: "I just wanted to quickly put the record straight.
"I've seen a headline this morning saying that I said 'Harry Kane has to leave Tottenham'. That's not what I meant, being a Tottenham fan, I love the club and everyone knows my relationship with the club and the fans.
"What I meant was, Harry might want to finish as the highest scorer in the club's history ahead of Jimmy Greaves, which would be an unbelievable achievement, and along the way, win some trophies.
"Or, he might want to leave and go and win loads of trophies elsewhere. Ultimately that's up to Harry.
"I just want to put the record straight, I don't want it to seem I said that 'Harry Kane has to leave Tottenham'. Being a Tottenham fan that doesn't make sense."
Kane's future has been a hot topic following his answer to a question in the build-up to England's match with Albania on Sunday.
Kane was asked whether the speculation around his future would impact his performances.
"I think that's a hard question to answer right now," he replied.
"It's important that all my focus is on the two England games coming up now and the rest of the season with Spurs and then the Euros. To be thinking about speculation or rumours would be damaging in terms of my own performance.
"I'm fully focused on doing the job on the pitch from now until the end of the summer, and then we'll see where we go from there."
Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane believes Harry Kane has to leave Tottenham this summer in order to win the trophies his status deserves.
Although Kane has three years remaining on his contract at Spurs, the striker has sparked more transfer speculation about his future by declining to offer a cast-iron assurance he will still be at the club next season.
Speaking after Kane inspired England to a comfortable 2-0 win over Albania, Sky Sports pundit Keane told ITV: "If you are a top player you want to win the big trophies. There's a big few months coming up for Tottenham - the League Cup final and can they get into the top four? That's a huge question mark, will it influence him?
"He's under contract and Tottenham will have a lot to say about it. But if you are in his shoes this summer, l think he has to move to win the big prizes. He's not going to do it at Tottenham."
Tottenham play Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final on April 25. They are currently sixth in the Premier League, three points behind fourth-placed Chelsea.
