Tuchel reveals Chelsea had ‘information’ from Kane representatives this summer

Thomas Tuchel has admitted that he expected Harry Kane to join Manchester City over the summer transfer window but revealed he was happy to see the striker remain at Tottenham.

While City’s efforts to snap up Kane were thwarted by Daniel Levy, the Premier League Champions were not the only ones who were allegedly in for the England captain.

Chelsea were also backed to make a move for the Tottenham star earlier in the summer but Tuchel has now admitted that the striker never came close to a move to Stamford Bridge since the Blues expected him to join City.

While Tuchel revealed Harry Kane’s name was never on a list of theirs, he did add that Chelsea received ‘some information’ from Kane’s representatives over the summer.

When asked if he expected Kane’s move to the Etihad to go through, the Chelsea boss told Sky Sports: “I thought that this would happen.

“We never had a list with his name on it and I never went to (Chelsea director) Marina (Granovskaia) to tell her to buy him.

“But the club sorted out the situation. There are many people around players, their agents and advisors and people in between and we had some information from these people.

“But it was never that close that we had to experience the rivalry (between Tottenham and Chelsea). We know about the rivalry but I had a feeling that it was never that far.”

The German coach insisted that he was not concerned by the prospect of Kane joining their title rivals in the summer, insisting that he was interested to see how he would fit into Pep Guardiola’s set-up.

He added: “No, I was not scared (of Kane joining City), but if it would have happened, I would have been very interested in how maybe it would have changed Manchester City’s style of playing.

“We are not afraid of anyone. We accept any team and Manchester City, Man United and Liverpool, they are the teams strong like no other in this league and they have strong squads.

“These are the guys with whom we want to compete and it’s normal that they fight for the best players and I thought this is maybe going to happen.”

The Chelsea boss also stated that he would like Kane to see out his career in North London since he likes the idea of one-club men.

“On one side I was happy that he stayed because it is also nice that it exists in football that players play for one club only”, Tuchel said.

“Harry Kane is Tottenham and even for me – I have absolutely nothing to do with Tottenham, I have never worked for them – when I think about Tottenham in the last decade you think about Harry Kane and this is very nice.

“Like you think about (Lionel) Messi and straight away you think about Barcelona and it is very hard to think that he plays for another club now, and that’s the same for Harry Kane.

“So, from this side, I was happy because I like it and a part of my personality is still a fan and I like that things like this happen.

“It is also nice that Romelu Lukaku is back at Chelsea and some things are a good fit and should not be changed.”

Spurs Web Opinion

We need Kane to be at his best tomorrow if we are going to get anything from the game. Unfortunately, though, I cannot see Kane being too effective, particularly given that we might not have the pace of Son and Bergwijn to stretch the Chelsea backline, which could afford some space to the 28-year-old.

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