Players like Harry Kane: Do you respect them for going down with the ship, or are they wasting their careers?

Fortitude

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Harry Kane is probably the most high profile player in relation to the thread title - although it could be argued Pogba is doing the same - but the overarching question here is how do you ultimately regard players who are considered stars of their generation who don't go on to play for the top (or most succesful during their time) clubs, or at least have a measure of success, trophy-wise, should they decide to stay at the club that they essentially made their name with?

It's all said to be noble and sign of character to not move on, but when all's said and done, is there no question of what could have been?

Shearer is always mentioned in light of what he could have made of himself had he joined Manchester United, but at least with him, there was a period of time where it genuinely looked like Newcastle could go on to have their own time in the sun, that too with him already having won a league title. Someone like Kane doesn't even have these factors to console himself with and he really doesn't have much time left to make a significant mark on the game as a whole - I think it's safe to say he could go down as perhaps a player to even rival Greaves, as far as Spurs are concerned, but, for a player of his ability, is that enough?

Fans tend to be hypcritical when it comes to the push-pull machinations of players looking to better themselves, or making the best of themselves - as long as it doesn't concern their own team, it tends to be fine and dandy, otherwise, the player is perhaps a sell-out and a merc' who has no interest in helping out during the hard times; basically, if he's good, he should sacrifice his best years, if he's not, he good riddance etc. etc.

With regards to someone like Kane, do you see it as noble that he stays where he is, or a waste? If he were at your club, and your club wasn't delivering, would he have your blessing to move on? In extension, Spurs fans: if Kane wanted to move on, would he have your blessing and empathy as to why, or should he retire with you?
 

Carl

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If I was a professional footballer I'd play my entire career at United if i could, even if it meant never winning a trophy.
 

Cassidy

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Guess he suits Spurs, he is no winner if he stays there
 

SwedishFish

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He's opened the door to leaving so we'll see about going down with the ship.

The problem for him is that a lot of big clubs are recalculating their transfer strategies, opting to go for players 25 and under for the bigger fees paired with the fact that he has a long-term contract at Spurs he might not be able to get his day in the sunshine.

I don't doubt that if the chance would come up after a season like this if Tottenham were to miss out on Champions League football again, he'd go. But it's just massively difficult for that to happen at the moment.
 

Eddy_JukeZ

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I think you can critique the player for showing a lack of ambition, but also praise their loyalty.

On Kane specifically, I think he's found a comfort zone and doesn't want to leave it.
 

roonster09

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I have lots of respect for players like Kane but i also feel players should be selfish and look after their careers. Clubs don't think for a second to break contract and sell them if the player is not good enough, likewise players shouldn't think much about loyalty and try to move on if they feel they can win trophies elsewhere.
 

padzilla

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Another question is what happens to Spurs when he leaves? Is it the death knell on their ambitions to be anything other than a top six club?
 

golden_blunder

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This season is realistically his last chance for moving to a big club with that stupid contract he’s signed
 

youngrell

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I respect both ways.

I think it’s great if players stay loyal to their club but also respect those who want to push themselves and go higher.

Ultimate respect to those who stay at one club and push said club to success.
 

Pep's Suit

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Signed contract until '24 so that makes it impossible for him to join another club. Guess he's happy there but clearly lacks ambitions.
 

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I do feel sorry for players like Kane in particular, because he knows he gets completely vilified if he leaves, even if it’s for the best of his career.
 

Vidyoyo

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Hmm Kane will probably get a statue and be loved by Spurs fans for a long time as it stands. I don't think winning the Premier League with, say, Man City is a better achievement.

I generally think the media is too obsessed with the idea that only good players win trophies.
 

Jezpeza

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I do respect his loyalty to the club. Hes a proper old fashioned player not a gutless mercenary looking for a ride on the easiest airplane to a load of trophies and trying to earn his fat shit agent big fees by moving every couple of years.

I think he hoped that he would stay and help/be on board for Spurs taking that next step but they havent and wont. No one could have begrudged him packing his bags a couple of years ago. It goes under the radar a bit how good this bloke is. I think he will overtake Shearer and Rooney for all time goalscorer in PL and for England but I think his contract and the virus market combined with his age mean he wont get out of tottenham now and he wont be able to add a load of trophies to that.
 

Dante

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If I was a professional footballer I'd play my entire career at United if i could, even if it meant never winning a trophy.
Same here.

If he loves his boyhood club, I can't begrudge him wanting to stay there. Sometimes that emotional connection is worth more than the better offers he might be getting from elsewhere. It's monogamy versus being a slag.
 

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From most of what I read from non Spurs fans, nearly every body feels he should leave Spurs and not doing so would reflect a poor lack of ambition from Kane. I see very few people showing respect for his loyalty to Spurs. I think to each his own. If for the player, Spurs means more than trophies than who are we to judge that emotional connect he has? I'm not sure that he'll stay but I think more people should respect the players sentiments in these cases. Then again this generation has the greatest respect for players who want to keep switching clubs for a search of new successes like Ibra or Haaland (reportedly) rather than the one club stories people used to be fascinated with.
 

Gehrman

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I think with Kane you gotta give some credit to one-club players, but on the other hand being a world class player without a major trophy becomes a bit hollow in the end. Pogba is a big name, but unlike Kane he's hardly performed to his highest level. Bruno has already had an impact he never consistently had. It doesn't mean he won't be able to perform for PSG, Juventus or Madrid or wherever he's headed next.
 

Pexbo

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I think you can critique the player for showing a lack of ambition, but also praise their loyalty.

On Kane specifically, I think he's found a comfort zone and doesn't want to leave it.
Regarding the comfort zone, I think people underestimate how much these players value their all round satisfaction with their lives. He’s probably got a house he loves with family and friends around him. He’s a god amongst fans and probably enjoys the attention in his local area.

From a footballing perspective it’s low ambition but from a general life happiness perspective, fair play.
 

LawCharltonBest

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He was recently in a CL final with them, and was probably the reason that they lost it

Not saying he does, but maybe he feels he owes them a trophy
 

HTG

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His decision alone and he doesn’t owe anything to anyone. So of course im fine with it.
 

Nevilles.Wear.Prada

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Deep down they maybe believed thats their level and may lose it all in a bigger pond. There is no shame in it, but you will never be best of the best. Well someone mentioned he signed till 2024 for spurs. (No disrespect) thats well into his 30s, i mean if he think thats his level, then thats his level.
 

Red00012

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I do feel sorry for players like Kane in particular, because he knows he gets completely vilified if he leaves, even if it’s for the best of his career.
No he won’t , he’s leaving to win trophies which Spurs can’t provide .

Any Spurs fans on here care to agree /disagree ?
 

Red_toad

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If wasting your career is earning a vast fortune playing for a club that’s special to you and doing the thing you probably enjoy most in the world. Then sign me up.
 

charlenefan

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It's difficult isn't it, a footballers career is short and signing a long term deal for a guaranteed amount of money protects the player and his family that being said if someone had told Kane back in 2018 how things would be looking for Spurs in 2021 then I don't think he signs that deal without some kind of get out

Pogba is different as if he was as good as he and his agent think he is and we'd have an acceptable offer then he'd be gone by now, he hasn't stayed out of loyalty he's stayed due to lack of other options

Shearer is the only one who stayed for genuine love of his club and he already had a league title to fall back on even if he didn't win anything else in his career
 

rpitchfo

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I’d look at it a different way. There aren’t many professional careers that are so easily transferable to any country in the world. If I were a professional footballer I’d want to play in every major European league during my career! Not many players take up that opportunity.
 

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I'm fine with it and respect it in the sense that I don't think it's a bad thing but at the same time I'm not going to give him extra praise because of it. He's in a fantastic position where he can choose his career path like many can't and he should do whatever makes him happy.

I'd never be a pro footballer, but if I was I think if I'd earned what he has already in his career that I'd be going on a tour of different clubs that I either thought were cool/interesting on some level or based in places I wouldn't mind living in, all on 1-year contracts and not that bothered about the money. A team in the Norwegian Fjords or in Tokyo etc for places, and rather randomly I've always thought Dynamo Dresden and Genoa were cool so maybe I'd offer myself one of them. Of course he can't do that because he's tied himself down to such a long contract and those sorts of teams couldn't afford him.
 

Oranges038

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Would respect him in staying if it were solely for the love of the club and like Shearer I wouldn't think of it as a wasted career.

But he signed his long term contract when Spurs were at their best, they have gone downhill ever since. I think if he stays it's more to do with other clubs not being able to afford him because of this, rather than him being totally commited to the club.
 

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If a player loves the club and that's his reasoning for staying, nothing but respect. Although, that would be very rare.
 

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All depends on what players want to achieve in their careers and lives. It’s not really up to fans to dictate that based on our own personal preferences.
 

cyberman

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Not Kane. If he admitted he wanted to be the big fish in a small pond I would respect him more but I honestly think the personal praise is enough for him.
I hate the lip service in pretending to be a winner.
 

flappyjay

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With regards to someone like Kane, do you see it as noble that he stays where he is, or a waste?
Both for me, on one hand it's nice to see some loyalty from one of the best in the world on the other its like he lacks ambition in my eyes. He is not comparable to Shearer who won a league title with Blackburn, Totti usually gets thrown in these type of conversations who won silverware with Roma . Or Pogba who's won stuff at both United and Juventus. Kane has won 0, feck all, nadda, zilch.
 

Boavista

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I think with Kane you gotta give some credit to one-club players, but on the other hand being a world class player without a major trophy becomes a bit hollow in the end. Pogba is a big name, but unlike Kane he's hardly performed to his highest level. Bruno has already had an impact he never consistently had. It doesn't mean he won't be able to perform for PSG, Juventus or Madrid or wherever he's headed next.
I agree with this. Kane's been consistently good for so long that not winning trophies doesn't tarnish his legacy quite as much. Pogba on the other hand, for all his talents hasn't really performed consistently at a level where you'd say he's too good for United. Sure if he played in a team that challenged for more titles he might perform better and maybe he'd go down as a star of his generation, but overall I don't get the feeling that United don't win titles despite having him in the team in the way that Spurs does with Kane.

We're also looking at this with hindsight, so it's easy to say they should have moved on to win titles. But there were moments were it looked like Spurs could reach that next level, so I wouldn't necessarily call it lack of ambition to stick around and try to win titles. That Champions league final for instance was only 2 years ago.

If Kane doesn't move, I wonder how people in the future will judge him compared to Benzema for example. Both top strikers of their generation, one has won it all multiple times, the other hasn't.
 
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Edy2

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I understand why Kane would stay due to being a fan etc and fair play there but son is also too good for them. He should leave and win things elsewhere. Would take him at United in a heartbeat. Great attitude.
 

VeevaVee

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I think you can critique the player for showing a lack of ambition, but also praise their loyalty.
This I guess. It does seem a massive waste to get so far yet do so little, but then as a fan of that club you always want loyalty. Got to also factor in that it's not always about winning trophies or even about money. He may just be incredibly settled and happy and it's not like he's at a struggling club, even if Spurs are always so meh.
 

Dave Smith

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Same here.

If he loves his boyhood club, I can't begrudge him wanting to stay there. Sometimes that emotional connection is worth more than the better offers he might be getting from elsewhere. It's monogamy versus being a slag.
Yeah, if I were a professional player, I would take a whole career at my club over playing for another team to win trophies. Only exception would possibly be at 30+ going aboard to try a new environment.
 

Boavista

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I’d look at it a different way. There aren’t many professional careers that are so easily transferable to any country in the world. If I were a professional footballer I’d want to play in every major European league during my career! Not many players take up that opportunity.
I'm fine with it and respect it in the sense that I don't think it's a bad thing but at the same time I'm not going to give him extra praise because of it. He's in a fantastic position where he can choose his career path like many can't and he should do whatever makes him happy.

I'd never be a pro footballer, but if I was I think if I'd earned what he has already in his career that I'd be going on a tour of different clubs that I either thought were cool/interesting on some level or based in places I wouldn't mind living in, all on 1-year contracts and not that bothered about the money. A team in the Norwegian Fjords or in Tokyo etc for places, and rather randomly I've always thought Dynamo Dresden and Genoa were cool so maybe I'd offer myself one of them. Of course he can't do that because he's tied himself down to such a long contract and those sorts of teams couldn't afford him.
Yeah it's surprising that there aren't more players who do this. Why not play in Mexico like Gignac, or Iniesta and Podolski in Japan and Turkey. Players moving to China are often accused of just doing it for the money, but why wouldn't you take that opportunity and experience life there? Not many people get the chance to do that while earning lots of money.
 

Raees

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Once upon a time I'd have been really judgemental on players like Kane for showing lack of ambition but when you take into account family lives, fan support and love for your club - its understandable that some players just may not want to leave their comfort zone and make lives unnecessarily difficult for themselves. I know from my own perspective, was working at one of the biggest law firms in the world in London - did not enjoy being away from the family back in Birmingham and walked away from it. I do not regret that choice whatsoever even if people make comments like 'oh but you're earning half, you could have been this or that'.

Happiness comes first. Players are human at end of the day, and in real life transfers have massive ramifications on a persons living environment and ecosystem but because of games like FIFA and FM, we take it for granted as fans as in surely you'd want to leave for the bigger club etc.
 

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Kane winning the league with City would just be an empty achievement. His best way out would be to find a situation like Van Persie, where he goes to a team and lifts them a step higher while being the key to winning the league as the league's best player. There's two clubs that could afford him and give him that chance, us and Chelsea.
 

Trequarista10

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When did Kane sign his contract? I assume just after Spurs got to a CL final, everything looking rosy and promising for Spurs. The past few years Spurs have been on a similiar level to United, Arsenal and Chelsea, Liverpool have had a good run but couldn't afford him and have dropped off anyway. City the only PL team that would have guaranteed him more trophies than Spurs and who says they even would've wanted him at the time. Maybe there wasn't interest from abroad, and playing abroad isn't for everyone anyway.

I do think it's stupid footballers at the top level signing 4, 5 or 6 year contracts during their peak years. Career ending injuries are rare these days and these players will have made enough money to live comfortably for the rest of their lives by their early 20s. I'd value the freedom of a 1 or 2 year contract much more than the slim potential of having an extra couple years on a contract in case of serious injury or a rapid decline in form. Footballers haven't cottoned on yet, it only serves the clubs in order to protect their assets, and one big fat fee for the agent with less work than negotiating every year.