Sam Allardyce believes Tottenham will become a mediocre side if Harry Kane leaves the north London club this summer.
The 29-year-old is approaching the final 12 months of his contract and while he is understood to be open to discussing a new deal, Spurs have not yet begun that process amid the chaos of recent weeks. Antonio Conte exited the club on Sunday and then managing director of football Fabio Paratici had his 30-month ban from the Italian football federation extended globally by FIFA.
At the weekend Kane became England's all-time record goalscorer as he did for Spurs this season and Allardyce, who managed England for one match, believes Tottenham will be in big trouble if they sell the striker.
READ MORE: Fabio Paratici - The man who can no longer be able to tell Daniel Levy what to do at Tottenham
"If Tottenham lose Harry Kane – what are they going to do? That would be a massive, massive problem – if they lose his goals, they’re going to end up becoming a mediocre Premier League side," he said to on the William Hill and Footy Accumulators’ podcast, No Tippy Tappy Football.
"I don't want to be disrespectful, but I don’t think there are many replacements as good as Harry who would come to Tottenham. Spurs have a great stadium and are a good football club, but they just can’t get over the line when it matters. They are where they are and until that changes, it’s unlikely that they’re going to finish any higher than they currently do."
Allardyce was joined by former Premier League winger Shaun Wright-Phillips, who said Kane needs to decide what he wants from the remainder of his playing days.
"I think it's now about what he personally wants to do with the rest of his career. If he wants to win medals, he’s either got to hope for a new manager to come in what the ambition of going for trophies, or he can act like Matt Le Tissier did at Southampton and say ‘I’m going to stay at the club and do what I have to do'," he said. "It seems like every two or three years this situation happens again, but he keeps renewing his contract."
Allardyce does not believe Kane would push his way out of Tottenham in any way that would cause problems.
"I don’t think Harry is ruthless enough to do it. Those players that leave their clubs are the ones that cause tons of trouble to the football club," he said. "Someone who is as big of a player as that can make life very difficult – the mood of the dressing room means everything to the success of the team.
"As dogged and determined as Daniel Levy is, Dimitar Berbatov still managed to get away to Manchester United and Gareth Bale went to Real Madrid. Sometimes the manager has to go to the owner and say ‘cut your losses, get the best price you can’, otherwise it’s going to destroy the whole ethos of what they’re working for as a club."
Allardyce also backed Conte following his explosive post-match press conference after Spurs collapsed to a 3-3 draw from a two-goal lead at Southampton. Eight days later he had left the club.
"I thought it was a bit of a miracle that Conte managed to get them in to the Champions League last season," said Allardyce. "I know Antonio and I wasn’t surprised to see the rant after the Southampton game.
"If you look at it in its context, if he had said it a little bit calmer, it may not have had the same effect, because he was spot on about where Tottenham Hotspur are as a club.
"Sometimes when managers lose it like that and have a rave about things, it can often not be as to the point as it was, but Antonio was certainly to the point in what he said.
"[Tottenham’s issues] are not because of the managers – it’s because the players who have been brought in over the years are not quite good enough to get there. You can't have all those managers over the years and say ‘it’s all the manager’s fault’, that’s just not possible!"
READ NEXT:
- The truths and flaws in Antonio Conte's explosive Tottenham tirade and Daniel Levy's decision
- Every word of Antonio Conte's remarkable and furious press conference about Tottenham
- Dazzling Djed Spence praised, Tanguy Ndombele scores, Destiny Udogie wins award and happy Winks
- Antonio Conte's awkward Tottenham return and Daniel Levy's familiar decision
- The £10bn businessman spotted speaking to Daniel Levy and issue with Harry Kane Tottenham exit
