Harry Kane: Tottenham striker left out of squad vs Man City due to lack of fitness

Harry Kane will not be involved in Tottenham Hotspur’s match against Manchester City this afternoon.

The Athletic understands Kane has not been deemed fit enough to feature and has not travelled with the team for today’s fixture.

For City, meanwhile, Jack Grealish has been handed his first start for the club after signing for the reigning Premier League champions for a British record fee of £100 million.

Spurs’s starting XI for the fixture is: Lloris, Reguilon, Hojbjerg, Sanchez, Son, Dier, Alli, Bergwijn, Tanganga, Moura, Skipp.

City’s starting XI is: Ederson, Dias, Ake, Sterling, Gundogan, Grealish, Torres, Mendy, Fernandinho, Mahrez, Cancelo.

When asked about Kane’s availability for the match on Sunday, Tottenham head coach Nuno Espirito Santo told Sky Sports: “He (Kane) is continuing his preparation, the delay all these things.

“Harry needs to work, he worked today and he will keep on working until he is ready for the team. 

“Players that not had many sessions working with us, it is a different case with Bryan (Gil) because he was at the Olympic Games, also (Cristian) Romero, but I think for them it is important to be here to see the stadium, the hotel, the meeting, to see all the process we have, it is important.

“He worked in the morning, I don’t know what he is going to do.”

Kane has been at the centre of a long-standing transfer saga between the two clubs, with The Athletic reporting the 28-year-old’s desire to leave Tottenham several months ago.

There was confusion over Kane’s return to Tottenham’s pre-season following his involvement in the European Championship, with the striker denying he had refused to train. Kane carried out a five-day quarantine at The Lodge before returning to training.

On Friday, however, Nuno had indicated that Kane could feature for the club in Sunday’s match, despite not playing in any pre-season fixtures. Nuno revealed he would make a decision on Kane’s involvement after training on Saturday.

“He’s a Tottenham player. He’s here with us,” Nuno told reporters. “We have to think about tomorrow (Saturday). Let’s prepare the training session of tomorrow and go day by day.”

Kane is wanted by City and remains keen to leave north London, but Tottenham are holding firm that they will not sell to another Premier League club.



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