Tottenham will have to wait until after the World Cup to thrash out a new contract with Harry Kane after he put discussions on hold.
The striker, who has 18 months left on his current deal and is yet to begin negotiations over an extension, is said to be focused only on finishing the half-season with Spurs before leading his country in Qatar.
He is one of three senior players the club wants to tie to new deals, along with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Eric Dier.
Kane pushed to leave his boyhood club in the summer of 2021 but has been enjoying his football since Antonio Conte was appointed a year ago, and indicated before the start of the season that he would be open to talks when the time is right.
Spurs would not want their talisman, who is their top earner on around £200,000 a week, to begin next season going into the final year of his deal.
Earlier this month, Spurs managing director Fabio Paratici said the club was “very optimistic” of securing Kane to a new deal.
“Kane is the symbol of this club, the best scorer in history and captain of England,” he said. “We are confident and always in contact. There is a great relationship between him and the club, we are very optimistic.”
Spurs are also keen to agree new deals with Hojbjerg and Dier, and talks with the pair are expected to be more straightforward. The Dane’s camp have begun preliminary discussions on extending his contract beyond 2025, though an agreement is not imminent, while extending Dier’s deal - which runs until 2024 - will also be discussed after the World Cup.
Kane, Dier and Hojbjerg are the outfield leaders for Conte’s side, with the English pair expected to maintain their record of having started every game this season at Bournemouth tomorrow.
Hojbjerg’s run of 32 consecutive starts ended when he succumbed to muscle fatigue and missed the Newcastle defeat, but he returned against Sporting.
Kane has started the season well, scoring 10 goals in 12 Premier League games to leave him seven shy of Jimmy Greaves’s all-time record for Spurs, while he needs just three goals to surpass Wayne Rooney as England’s top scorer.
Meanwhile, Spurs have decided against appealing Conte’s red card for his protests at Kane’s disallowed winner on Wednesday. The Italian will serve a one-match ban from the dressing room and touchline in next Tuesday’s must-not-lose Champions League game at Marseille.
