Tottenham should start planning for life without superstar

With Harry Kane’s future at the club unknown, the implications of an underachieving campaign for Tottenham could be severe and wide-ranging. 

Kane’s loyalty to his club is as rare as it is uplifting, especially in an era where frequently changing clubs is seen as a rite of passage.

Tottenham’s talisman has spoken often about his desire of being a one-club man for the duration of his awe-inspiring career. That wondrous sentiment, however, is predicated on winning trophies, not solely as an individual but as part of a collective, too.

In a 2017 interview, Kane told Thierry Henry that he would be disappointed if he didn’t win a “few trophies” by 2020. Well, here we are, two months into 2021 and still no trophies.

While Kane is certainly troubled by staring at the void in his barren trophy cabinet, maybe he’d be able overcome that lack of silverware if he thought his team were inching ever closer to glory. That, soberingly, is not the case. And I don’t think I’m going out on a limb by saying a Carabao Cup will not suffice.

With Spurs’ current Premier League regression, it would be fanciful, even delusional, to believe Kane isn’t seriously considering a permanent change of scenery. In a few years Kane will be entering the autumn of his career and the thought of not winning at least one Premier League, FA Cup or Champions League will transition from disappointing to devastating, even unbearable.

Elite athletes already experience abbreviated careers, their peak years evaporating like a dog’s prime. Time waits for nobody, and Kane will be acutely aware of that. If he doesn’t win football’s most prestigious team honours soon, he could one day be swaying in a rocking chair ruminating endlessly on what could have been.

The big question is when does his need, his unquenched thirst for team honours, overshadow his unbridled loyalty for Tottenham Hotspur? If that watershed moment hasn’t already occurred, it’s within sight.

And Tottenham’s current domestic form will only push Kane closer to the exit ramp. A player of Kane’s otherworldly capability will not sit idly by if his team falls further down the rabbit hole. He simply cannot risk being the best ever player not to win major team honours.

If they don’t qualify for the Champions League and fail to pull the trigger on a regime change, I fear the worst for Spurs, whose inability to fulfil their end of the bargain will ultimately cost the greatest toll of all.