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Jose Mourinho has hit back at claims his negative playing style could encourage Harry Kane to leave Tottenham this summer.
Ex-Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson suggested in his role as a Sky Sports pundit following Spurs’ 1-1 draw with Manchester United on Friday night that Kane will “have a serious think at the end of the season” because he won’t score “25-30 goals a season the way Jose will want to play.”
– Ferdinand: Kane perfect for Man Utd
Mourinho said he can get the best out of the England captain by citing his previous work with Didier Drogba at Chelsea, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema at Real Madrid, Diego Milito at Inter Milan and Zlatan Ibrahimovic at United.
Speaking ahead of Tuesday’s Premier League visit of West Ham, Mourinho launched an impassioned defence of his record in a lengthy monologue which featured pre-prepared statistics.
“I feel a bit strange [about] some analysis and some comments, especially, you know, because it looks for me that the beginning of some comments and analysis, they started from Paul [Merson],” he said.
“I have to say I respect a lot people like him and because I respect a lot, I want to be nice in my answer. I don’t think he is ready for a bad answer. So I try to be nice. And I try just to say something where people can think a little bit.
“First of all, Harry played his first game for six months and if you watch and analyse the game, compare Harry Kane with [United striker] Anthony Martial. It wasn’t a game of many chances, where the two strikers had a lot of chances.
“Do you give credit to my defence for Martial’s game, do you give credit to United’s defence to the occasions that we didn’t create? You have to look at it in a balanced approach.
“In our case, Harry doesn’t play a game for six months. The record of goals that Harry has with me is easy for you, you just go to your data and it is easy to see how many matches Harry played with me and how many goals he scored.
“For you not to lose time, I can say that I had a few strikers who played for me and they are not bad. I had one guy called Drogba. He played for me four seasons, he scored 186 goals which gives an average of 46 goals per season.
“I had one guy who is not also bad. Plays for Juventus now. He played for me for three seasons. He scored 168 goals which gives an average of 56 goals per season. I had another guy that is also not bad, called Karim Benzema. He played for me three seasons. He was not always starting because he was quite young at the time. He scored for me 78 goals in three seasons, which gives a 26 goal average per season.
“I had another one called Milito. He played one season for me, he scored 30 goals, he won three titles. Of course, the average is 30. I had another guy who played for me for one-and-a-half seasons. I say that because in the other half he had a big injury. Tall guy called Zlatan. He played for me for one-and-a-half seasons, he scored 58 goals which gives a 29-goal average per season.
“So, dear Paul, I have lots of respect for you. I think Harry Kane has no problems at all to score goals in my teams, especially when he is fit, fresh and has routines of playing. So that’s my message to somebody that I have lots of respect for.”
Kane looked rusty on his first appearance since Jan. 1 following hamstring surgery, touching the ball just 36 times — the lowest figure of any player to complete 90 minutes — and managed just one shot at goal.
The 26-year-old scored seven goals in 11 games under Mourinho prior to sustaining the injury and although he is contracted to Tottenham until 2024, Kane previously hinted he may consider his future if the club is not “progressing.”