Harry Kane will make his first start of the season in Spurs’ Europa Conference League play-off tie against Pacos de Ferreira on Thursday evening, and will captain the side at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The England captain had long been linked with a move to Manchester City this summer, but with a transfer failing to materialise, he confirmed on Wednesday that he would be staying at Spurs.
Kane missed Tottenham’s opening day win against City, with the home fans ironically chanting ‘are you watching, Harry Kane?’, while he came on as a second-half substitute in their victory at Wolves on Sunday.
Nuno Espirito Santo has now handed Kane his first start of the season and named him as captain as Spurs look to overturn a 1-0 deficit against Pacos de Ferreira in the play-off round of the Europa Conference League.
A first-half strike from Lucas Silva handed Pacos the win in Portugal, as a much-rotated Spurs team fell to an embarrassing defeat.
Kane is Spurs’ record goalscorer in Europe with 38 goals, 15 clear of Jermain Defoe who previously held the record.
In his statement regarding staying at the club, Kane revealed that he was blown away by the positive reception he got after coming on at Wolves, and it will be interesting to see how he will be received back at home.
“It was incredible to see the reception from the Spurs fans on Sunday and to read some of the messages of support I’ve had in the last few weeks,” Kane said.
“I will be staying at Tottenham this summer and will be 100% focused on helping the team achieve success.”
Kane has also been selected in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for their upcoming World Cup 2022 qualifiers – the only player from Spurs to receive a call-up.
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