Liverpool legend slams Harry Kane for exit comments and ‘blaming’ Spurs teammates

Former Liverpool player, John Barnes, has blasted Harry Kane for his recent comments about leaving Spurs and insisted that the striker should be focussed on helping the club to win trophies.

Kane revealed in an interview with Jamie Redknapp last month that he would consider quitting Tottenham if the team wasn’t moving in the right direction.

Many pundits have backed the striker’s decision to publicly put pressure on the club and suggested that he should look to leave in order to win trophies (Sky Sports).

Barnes, however, feels that the England captain’s comments might be a strategy to ensure that he gets handed a new contact, while comparing the 26-year-old’s situation to Wayne Rooney’s at Old Trafford a few years ago.

Speaking to BonusCodeBets (as relayed by the Express), the former Reds star said: “It’s a bit sad when players say that [wanting to leave a club if it doesn’t match their trophy ambitions].

“I remember Wayne Rooney said that about Man United and he got a new contract. That’s a modern phenomenon.

“Rooney was the first when he came out and said that about the club’s ambition matching his own, and Fergie wasn’t particularly happy, but he had to give him a new contract.

“But fans accept that now, which I don’t like, because fans should understand that your club is the most important thing, and for players aren’t going to be committed unless you’re winning, then you shouldn’t be at the club.”

Barnes also suggested that the striker’s comments were a means of shirking responsibility for Tottenham’s lack of recent success, thus blaming his teammates.

He added: “What he [Kane] should say is ‘I’m going to be the player to stay at Tottenham and help them to win things’. As Bill Shankly said, ‘If you can’t play for us when we lose, don’t play for us when we’re winning’, and if you’re a player, you’re part of the reason you’re not winning.

“So, if you think you’re better than your team-mates, and you’re blaming your team-mates for not winning, rather than looking at yourself, then that’s a big problem for the football club. So, that is not a good thing to say.”

Spurs Web Opinion

To compare Rooney’s comments to Kane’s is unfair as the Manchester United star had already won multiple league titles by then and also had a Champions League winners medal under his belt. Kane, on the other hand, is yet to win a single piece of silverware in his career and so it is only natural that he is desperate to win trophies. It is extremely unfair to suggest that Kane’s comments were a tactic to get the club to give him a pay rise.

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