The ‘alarm bells’ for Harry Kane at Tottenham

After so publicly trying to leave in the summer, the England captain’s start to the season for his club is yet to get off the ground

Harry Kane hasn’t started the season as he wanted (Getty Images)

We already knew Harry Kane wouldn't be starting the new season where he wanted to but he hasn't started how he wanted to either.

The Tottenham Hotspur striker made it clear in the summer that he saw his future away from his boyhood club with Premier League champions Manchester City his chosen destination.

He wanted silverware and the chance to compete at the very top of the game. Spurs chairman Daniel Levy, however, had no intention of granting him that opportunity with a six-year contract barely halfway through.

With Levy unmoved Kane later vowed he would return and be "100% focused" on "helping the team achieve success". For now at the very least it hasn’t gone that way having failed to hit the ground running.

The latest disappointment came on Sunday afternoon as London rivals Chelsea secured an all-too-easy 3-0 win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The result - a second 3-0 reverse in succession - leaves them seventh and already seemingly off the pace in the race for the big prizes.

Kane, usually so trigger-happy when in range, has mustered just four shots on goal so far to rank 111th in the Premier League. At five games and counting it is his longest goal drought for five years, more than 150 appearances ago.

While his lack of goals has understandably taken the headlines, his uncharacteristically forlorn demeanour has also caught the eye.

Gary Neville, watching on for Sky Sports, is concerned.

"They are difficult circumstances in the sense that he did want to further his career and win trophies," he said afterwards. "Kane chose this summer to publicise the fact that he wanted to leave, and to go and win trophies but Daniel Levy and Tottenham decided to keep him which is their right as he's under contract.

"But it's never easy when a player wants to leave your club and everyone in the ground and in the dressing room knows that he wants to leave. Things aren't going well."

While the goals have dried up domestically, Kane's international record continues to be exceptional and he carried his fine form from the summer's European Championships into the recent international break where he scored in each of England's three matches.

Roy Keane believes he needs to show more, both on and off the ball.

"He scored against Poland – they're no mugs. But for the closing down, he's your top man," he said. "Knock someone open, shout at people! I never see him digging anyone out. There's a bit of a hangover from the summer that would be my concern.

"Sprint at people, get hold of the ball! At 2-0 down, he tried this Roy of the Rovers move. It was never going to work."

Kane couldn’t help as Tottenham fell to defeat (AP)

Fellow Sky pundit Graeme Souness feels the system around him, helmed by new boss Nuno Espirito Santo, is also partially to blame.

"Nuno's finding out about his group and what his starting team is. Mourinho was credited with a different position for Kane,” he added.

"As midfield players get older, they don't want to be in the jungle. As strikers get older, they want to get closer to the ball. For me, he needs someone to point out to him that 'you're a striker, get up the field'

"This club having a good year or a very difficult year depends on Harry Kane scoring again."

Chelsea, by way of contrast, have the feel of a real contender, one who will beat better teams than Tottenham, a loaded squad who seem set up to compete on every front.

The irony is that is of course what Kane wanted for himself, the exact kind of set up he so hoped to be a part of. Instead he could only watch it from the other side of the pitch.

"We had the stat at Crystal Palace where he'd played his first 90 minutes without a touch in the opposition box or a shot on target. Little things like that start to ring before the game," Neville added.

"There were alarm bells and now there will be further questions as he looked despondent towards the end. He was playing against a very good team and he's been part of a Tottenham team in this situation for a number of years.

“He'll be thinking, 'I'm here again'. He'll be thinking, 'I'm not going to challenge for the title again at Tottenham and I'm not even going to get into the top four'. He wanted more."

Instead of more it feels like more of the same.