Harry Kane believes Philippe Coutinho has been 'very professional' in negotiating his Liverpool exit

Kane believes a club should not hold a player against their will if they want to leave

Kane is expected to be given a new contract by the end of the season (Getty)

Harry Kane believes that Philippe Coutinho has been “very professional” in eventually getting his long-desired move from Liverpool to Barcelona, as he said clubs should generally let players who want to go because they may not “put their heart on the line”.

The comments mean all the more from Kane given that he is someone who has declared his ambition to stay at Tottenham Hotspur in the long term, even though they are often in a similar situation to Liverpool with wealthier clubs looking for their players, and some of his teammates might well have that soon.

It is expected that Spurs will eventually stretch their wage structure to offer the striker a new contract - and probably more than double his wages - but Kane denied any knowledge of a deal.

Coutinho is meanwhile set to complete his move to Barcelona on Monday and, despite some controversy over how he left Liverpool, Kane does not see an issue.

“It’s a matter of opinion,” the 24-year-old said. “I think if a player wants to go then why would you stop him? He’s not going to be in the club, he’s not going to play every game, he’s not going to put his heart on the line.

“From the Coutinho point of view I think he’s been very professional in the six months he has played this year and, look, Liverpool have got a good offer from Barca and accepted it so I wouldn’t say they’re powerless but I can see why if a player wants to go you would let him go.”

When it was put to Kane that clubs might expect want-away players honour their contract, he responded: “Again, it’s a matter of opinion. It’s hard to talk about but the situation at the time, you kind of assess it and I suppose see what’s best for the team and what the manager wants to do and you go from there really.”

Kane stated he had no contract talks with Tottenham and that are none planned that he would “know of”, but re-iterated why he wants to stay.

“I’ve always said: keep progressing, keep getting better, start winning trophies. That’s the aim, as long as the club keep doing that then, yeah I’m happy here.”

The striker also added that there was a strong motivation among the squad to win the FA Cup this season, especially with Manchester City so far ahead in the league.

“City running away with it makes… we want to win a trophy somehow and this is a competition we’re looking at to do that. It’s always been a fantastic competition and obviously there’s been a lot of talk over the years about people resting players but that’s just the nature of the game now — there’s so many games and squads are so good, you can rest players, so for us whatever the gaffer chooses we’ll be ready to play.”