Ange Postecoglou has this afternoon been facing the media ahead of Tottenham Hotspur’s Premier League opener against Brentford.
Sunday’s fixture has been overshadowed by the transfer saga involving Tottenham, Bayern Munich and Harry Kane over the past twenty-four hours.
The Australian will take his Spurs squad to the Brentford Community Stadium without their talisman, who is on the verge of sealing his move to the Bundesliga champions (Fabrizio Romano).
It should come as no shock that the first question Postecoglou was asked in his debut Premier League press conference as Spurs boss was about the club’s record goalscorer.
The Australian manager admitted that Spurs have been planning for life without Kane for quite some time now, as he got the indication Harry would be leaving fairly early on in the process.
It may ease the worries of Spurs fans to know that Postecoglou does not think Kane’s exit will alter his plans dramatically, as the club’s transfer activity so far this summer has been with that eventuality in mind.
Postecoglou reveals what really happened with Kane
He said (Football London): “I didn’t see the point in [pitching myself] because whatever I was going to say was going to be irrelevant. I could plan his grand vision but I’m sure he’d heard it all before. My feeling was we’ll get to know each other, that’s the best way to navigate this early bit.
“Having said that, in my mind after that initial conversation [on the first day], he’d made up his mind that if the clubs agreed he’d go but he was also happy to stay if they didn’t.
“Fair to say I don’t have a blow-by-blow account of the whole thing but fair to say it’s progressed to the point where it looks like it’s going to happen. It gives us clarity and unless something unforeseen happens we’ll move on.”
Postecoglou added (Dan Kilpatrick): “We’ve been planning for this, it’s fair to say, for a while. “It doesn’t take too much work to realise this was going to happen… our business so far has been with this in mind. It doesn’t change my plans dramatically.”
“I had a conversation with Harry on day one and we were both upfront. I got an indication there that if both clubs agreed he would go. My preference was that it would be sorted before the first game.”
Spurs Web Opinion:
It goes to show that a lot of reports have been wide of the mark. It seems that Kane was upfront from the start and Postecoglou/Spurs have been planning for the exit for quite some time. At least that means it isn’t a last-minute shock to the squad or Tottenham’s transfer plans.