Harry Kane: Jose Mourinho claims striker would ‘not be so special elsewhere’ after latest Spurs masterclass
Jose Mourinho said Spurs striker Harry Kane would „not be so special playing for another team“ when asked about the club talisman’s future.
During the three-month Premier League suspension Kane refused to rule out leaving Tottenham and said if he felt the club were not „progressing“, he would consider moving on.
Mourinho was questioned about the England captain on the back of his double against Leicester and sixth goal in eight games since the Premier League restart, but said he may not be held in such high regard at other clubs.
„I think everyone thinks he’s a fantastic player and Tottenham is so lucky to have him because he’s the player, the person and the Tottenham boy,“ Mourinho said.
„All this together makes him really a special player for us that probably wouldn’t be so special playing for another team. He’s really special for us, he’s really special for Tottenham.
„Of course we want him to be happy and for him to be happy he wants victories, score goals, and I’m so happy after an incredibly difficult injury he’s coming in the direction where he’s going to end the season perfect.
„Hopefully the beginning of next season he will be even better.“
Mourinho, who has managed the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Didier Drogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in his career, told Sky Sports Kane is „second to none“ to other strikers he has worked with in the past.
He said: „It’s difficult for me to compare strikers, but I had almost in every club some of the best, and of course he’s second to none.
„He’s just different, different qualities. But as a striker, as a goalscorer, as a team player, as a leader, I think he is fantastic.
„It’s difficult to make him any better. The better the team is, the better he can be. But it depends more on us, on the team than himself.
„He’s an amazing professional, he works very well, he cannot work better than what he does during the week, he’s a fantastic striker, I’m so happy and Tottenham are lucky to have him.“
Jose: We have to fight for sixth
Tottenham will be left in a strong position to secure European football next season if Sheffield United lose to Everton on Monday night, but if Wolves drop points at home to Crystal Palace later that evening, it will put Spurs’ hopes of finishing sixth – and guaranteeing continental qualification – in their own hands when they visit Selhurst Park in their final game of the season next Sunday.
After Arsenal’s FA Cup semi-final win on Saturday, the Gunners’ could still take the final Europa League qualifying spot at the expense of the team who finishes in seventh should they lift the trophy on August 1.
Despite missing out on Champions League qualification already, Mourinho said the fight to finish as high as possible in the Premier League table would remain a priority for Spurs in the last week of the season.
„I think really we are one of the teams with more points during this period after the break, and I think that’s a very good feeling. Now we have to fight to finish sixth, but it doesn’t depend on us.
„We have to win, and that’s difficult at Palace, but we have to win and wait for something from our opponents. If not, seventh, because we can achieve that independently from the others. And then we still depend on the FA Cup final, but getting or not getting to Europa League the feeling of what we are doing and improving is very important for next season.
„It’s what I’ve always said, it’s very important the way we ended. What we were showing after the long break. The long break is not so open like a pre-season hopefully is, we had lots of limitations, but was good enough for us and the players to feel that with work and time we could improve.“
Rodgers: We’ve already reached our target
With Champions League qualification now all resting on Leicester’s final-day game with Manchester United, having been 14 points clear of fifth position at the turn of the year, Brendan Rodgers played down the pressure on his side’s need to reach Europe’s premier continental competition after a third defeat in six.
He told Sky Sports: „The season’s judged over 38 games, on 20 games people were looking at it and saying we were certs, but the players have been outstanding, at worst they’ve gone to what would be par for them in some of our performances, but we’ve also played really well.
„We’ve been unfortunate with one or two injuries as well. But for me, we’ve achieved the goals we initially set out to achieve by having European football, and we have a game to have a shot at the Champions League.
„For some that will be a disappointment, for others they’ll be gratified by what the players have given them this season. There’s one more game to go, we’ll give it everything we can and see where it takes us.“
Soccer Accumulator Bonus
Our fantastic Euro Soccer accumulator offer gives you the chance to earn a bonus of up to 100% on accumulators on the top domestic leagues in Europe along with the group and knockout stages of the Champions League.
This offer applies to returns on pre-match accumulators of 3 or more selections on Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for the English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga 1 or UEFA Champions League.
The maximum bonus that you can receive is ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. The bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based .on the remaining active stake. If a qualifying bet is edited .using our Edit Bet feature. The bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply. Double Chance bets or combination bets with bonuses. Such as Lucky 15’s or Lucky .31’s do not apply for this offer.
If your bet is successful, we will add the following bonuses to your returns:
Bet Type Bonus
14-folds and upwards 100% bonus
Terms and Conditions
Applies to straight pre-match accumulator bets on the Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga .1 or Australian A-League matches. Maximum bonus ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. Soccer Accumulator Bonus does not apply to Double Chance bets or combination. bets with bonuses such as Lucky 15’s, Lucky 31’s etc.
If any selections are postponed/void then the bonus will still apply, but the percentage bonus added will reflect the actual number of winning selections. For example, an 8-fold accumulator with 7. winners and 1 postponed match will receive a 30% .bonus to returns.
The bonus part of your returns will be added to your account within 24 hours of your final selection having played.
This bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based on the remaining active stake.
If a qualifying bet is edited using our Edit Bet feature, the bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply.
Where any term of the offer or promotion is breached or there is any evidence of a series of bets placed by a customer or group of customers, which due to a deposit bonus, enhanced payments, free bets, risk free bets or any other promotional offer results in guaranteed customer profits irrespective of the outcome, whether individually or as part of a group, bet365 reserves the right to reclaim the bonus element of such offers and in their absolute discretion either settle bets at the correct odds, void the free and risk free. bets or void any bet funded by the deposit bonus.
In addition bet365 .reserve the right to levy an administration charge on the customer up to the value of the deposit bonus, free bet, risk free bet or additional payment to cover administrative costs. We further reserve the right to ask any customer to provide sufficient documentation for us to be satisfied in our absolute discretion as to the customer’s identity prior to us crediting any bonus, free bet, risk free bet or offer to their account.
All bet365 offers are intended for recreational players and bet365 may in its sole discretion limit the eligibility of customers to participate in all or part of any promotion.
.
