Nuno Espirito Santo will not rush into decision on Harry Kane playing at Wolves

Kane has been building up his fitness following his late return from holiday.

Jonathan Veal
Friday 20 August 2021 15:15 BST
Harry Kane has been building up his fitness after his late return from holiday (Peter Powell/PA)
Harry Kane has been building up his fitness after his late return from holiday (Peter Powell/PA) (PA Wire)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Tottenham boss Nuno Espirito Santo has reiterated his stance that a decision over whether Harry Kane will play at Wolves on Sunday will be made after training on Saturday.

As the saga over his future rumbles on, Kane has been building up his fitness following his late return from holiday amid a desire to join Manchester City this season.

He missed the opening two games of the season – the win over City and the Europa Conference League defeat at Pacos de Ferreira on Thursday night – but he will be in contention for Nuno’s return to Molineux.

The Portuguese has remained consistent in his information throughout the situation and has not changed tack.

“He trained today, trained good. He’ll train tomorrow and tomorrow we’ll make a decision,” Nuno said of his star striker. “I’m so sorry to keep on saying the same things but this is how we work.

“It’s a day-by-day situation and decisions are made when we feel that we should make them, and we will make the decision on who’s going to travel tomorrow.”

Much of Nuno’s first six weeks at the club have been facing questions about Kane’s future which could be seen as a distraction as he tries to begin rebuilding work.

“Honestly, it’s not unfair or fair for me, it’s the reality,” Nuno, who revealed he was being kept up to date with Kane’s situation “every day”, added. “And the reality to be taken care of with wise decisions.

“And the decisions we make we go day by day, and all the players that are involved in training sessions are options for us. So the squad is the squad.”

Another player who has yet to feature this season is Tanguy Ndombele and there now has to be huge question marks over his future at the club.

The record signing did not play a single minute of pre-season action after failing to impress Nuno and, having not been registered for the Europa Conference League, where Spurs took a team full of reserves and academy players, he will also not travel to Molineux.

“He was not part of the squad in the Conference League because he was not part of the list,” Nuno said. “I will be honest with you, Tanguy is not going to be involved on Sunday.”

Asked whether any of his players could be sold before the transfer window, he replied: “I don’t know. I cannot answer that. We all know that when the transfer window is open anything can happen.”

Cristian Romero should be able to be part of the Spurs squad despite suffering from fatigue at the end of his full debut in Pacos.

The Argentinian was playing his first game since the Copa America final in July and looked to be injured at the end of the match in Portugal.

But Nuno said: “I think it was due to fatigue. It was his first game in a while. He played 90 minutes intense.

“The first half but especially the second half we were imbalanced, and needed a lot from our defenders. I think it was due to fatigue. He’s well today and he’s recovering, taking the normal procedures. But he’s OK.”

Joe Rodon will miss out with an injury.

It is a quick return to Molineux for Nuno, whose four years in charge ended at the end of last season.

The Portuguese earned Championship promotion, posted back-to-back seventh placed Premier League finishes along with a run to the Europa League quarter-final while at the club, which he still holds dear.

“It will be special. Of course it will be special,” he said. “They were four years of hard work, four years that were amazing and the Wolves fans were so supportive, so good to us that it’s only love and respect that I have for the club and for the fans, for the player there. For the staff because like I said it was four years of our life that we shared together.”

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in