Graham Cummins: Spurs need to give Harry Kane time to grieve his dream move 

Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane: Denied his dream move to a side contending for the Premier League title. 

What Harry Kane’s poor form shows is that he is human. Kane has been denied his dream move, a dream he thought was going to become a reality, to Manchester City, and it’s normal for him to be upset and out of form.

The backlash he is receiving is unjust and people should be more sympathetic towards a player who needs time to grieve.

Did Tottenham Hotspur fans, or football supporters in general, really believe that Kane was just going to come straight back into the Spurs side and perform like nothing had happened? If there was a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ between Kane and chairman Daniel Levy, and the latter has not held up his side of the bargain because he believes Kane is worth more than the £120m City reportedly offered, then Kane has every right to sulk and play like a player whose head is not fully focused.

Yes, Spurs have every right to hold on to Kane no matter how much it is against the player’s wishes, because of the six-year contract Kane signed back in 2018. But for Levy’s part, it seems more out of ego than what’s best for Spurs and the player.

Apart from signing that six-year contract, another mistake Kane made was the interview he participated in with Gary Neville before Euro 2020, in which Kane made it clear he was angling for a move away from the club.

What Kane did was presumptuous and arrogant. He belittled Tottenham and Levy by going public.

One thing I learnt as a footballer is that chairmen demand respect from players and manager. It’s different in Ireland, but during my playing career in the United Kingdom, no player or manager greeted the chairman on a first name basis. It was ‘Mr Chairman’ when speaking to the man in charge. I’ve witnessed chairmen fall out with players who made the mistake of addressing them by their first name, so I can only imagine what Levy was thinking when he saw that interview.

Although it was suggested that Levy was willing to accept a bid of £150m for Kane, I don’t believe there would have been a figure high enough to be bigger than the value of Levy’s ego.

Chelsea’s Mason Mount was the most recent player to be applauded for hiring a family member — his dad — to act as his agent. Obviously, Kane and Mount must sit at different tables when away on international duty with England, otherwise the Spurs’ striker would have warned Mount about letting family members act as their advisor.

Kane’s brother Charlie is his agent, and if allowing the England captain to sign a six-year contract with Spurs wasn’t bad enough advice, Charlie then let his brother do all of his own dirty work when trying to manoeuvre a move away from the club.

Although he might not be liked by many in football, at least ‘super agent’ Mino Raiola always does the dirty work for his clients when seeking a transfer. That way, players like Paul Pogba can always deny they had instructed their agent to act in a way that seemed disrespectful to the club.

I’m sure Kane and Levy have had, by now, an awkward conversation since the striker returned from his extended off-season. Perhaps there might have even been another ‘gentleman’s agreement’ brought up in the conversation.

Levy will argue that Kane has a contract and he is obliged to honour it, and who knows, maybe the striker’s poor form is down to him ‘playing the game’. Might he not be performing to the best of his ability so that come January or next summer, Spurs will be itching to accept anywhere near the £120m they reportedly were offered this transfer window.

I’m not saying Kane is going out on the pitch to deliberately perform poorly but perhaps he isn’t doing extra shooting sessions he might have been doing in training before, or might be less inclined to be as careful with the way he lives his life away from football. Less conscious about the amount of rest he gets or what his diet is, the little things that make the difference come matchday.

Kane seems to get the blame for any of Spurs’ negative results, but strikers rely on service and he isn’t getting quality service with Tottenham. It’s seldom that a striker has a good game without the team performing well. He is being criticised for dropping too deep to get the ball but that’s because of his frustration at not being involved in the game, because Spurs aren’t good enough to get the ball into his feet higher up the pitch.

Kane was playing a similar role — a role he was applauded for — last season, and if anything, the England captain is showing cleverness in trying to adapt his game. Kane has never been the quickest striker and mobility will only weaken the older he gets.

Cristiano Ronaldo is idolised for the way he has changed his game through the years but Kane is being scrutinised for wanting to prolong his career at the top.I expect Kane will turn his form around.

Fans just need to be patient with a player that has not gotten over his dream move collapsing.