The manager of Chelsea, Thomas Tuchel has compared Tottenham Hotspur striker, Harry Kane to former FC Barcelona forward Lionel Messi.
Ahead of the Chelsea Premier League game against Tottenham at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, the German tactician argued that in the last 10 years, when he thought of Tottenham, he remembered Harry Kane, just like in the case between Barcelona and Messi.
Thomas Tuchel made this comparison while reacting to the transfer saga between Kane and Tottenham in the last summer transfer window.
Recall that Kane tried to leave Spurs to a more ambitious club but he was not able to do so even though Manchester City were ready to offer £100 million for his services.
When it was obvious that he could not leave Tottenham during the transfer window, the England international announced that he would stay at the London-based club for the rest of the season.
During the same period, FC Barcelona failed to offer Lionel Messi a new contract due to financial complications. The record 6-time Ballon d’Or winner had to join Paris Saint Germain as a free agent after over 17 years in Barcelona.
It was one of the biggest transfer moves in the history of football even though it didn’t involve money. It was that big because the 34-year-old Argentine football icon has never played professional football at any club aside from Barcelona.
“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”, Thomas Tuchel said ahead of Tottenham vs Chelsea clash.
“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.”
Chelsea never planned to sign Harry Kane according to Thomas Tuchel
While acknowledging that he thought Harry Kane would join Manchester City during the 2021 summer transfer window, Thomas Tuchel revealed that he never asked Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia to sign England’s captain.
Recall that during the transfer window, Chelsea needed a striker so badly that they were linked with almost all the top strikers in Europe including Harry Kane.
The speculation then was that Chelsea were interested in the English striker but because of the rivalry between the club and Tottenham Hotspur, the purported transfer deal might not work.
Before the window closed, Chelsea signed Romelu Lukaku (who had played for the club between 2011 and 2014) in a club-record £97.5m deal.
While reacting to City’s interest in Kane, Tuchel said: “I thought that this would happen.
“We never had a list with his name on it and I never went to Marina 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.”
Harry Kane and Lukaku will go head to head in a London derby at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at 16:30 on Sunday, September 19, 2021.
