Harry Kane wants return by League Cup final

Wanna hear something absolutely shocking and surprising? Well, it won’t be from Harry Kane. Tottenham Hotspur’s iconic striker, whom the club recently said would be out until early March after sustaining an ankle injury against Manchester United last weekend, has said he thinks he can be back early. In fact, he’s targeted Spurs’ hypothetical League Cup final match against Manchester City on February 24 for a return to the pitch, according to the Evening Standard.

Why is that not surprising? Because Kane has a history of returning from injury earlier than expected. However, that may not necessarily be a GOOD thing. Kane may have returned early, but you could hardly say that he’s always been EFFECTIVE upon his return. Take, for example, his last ankle injury last spring. He did return to the pitch a few weeks ahead of schedule, but he was hardly the same player as he was before. Kane struggled through the end of the season and looked off his game all the way through the World Cup and even into the opening part of this season. He’s only been “back” as we understand it for a couple of months now, just in time to get injured again.

On the other hand, there’s an argument that having even a 50% effective Kane back for matches like the potential League Cup final and the March 2 North London Derby is better than not having Kane at all. I’m not sure I entirely buy that, but Kane’s presence on the pitch could effect the match in a positive way for Spurs even if he isn’t fully fit.

Ultimately, Kane’s feelings about the matter don’t really change anything. Ankles heal when they heal, and no amount of pushing or desire from Kane will make it heal any faster. There’s always that line between coming back at the right time and coming back too early, and you can argue Kane hasn’t always chosen the right side of the line. With Kane expected out at least a month anyway, it’s a scenario that we can probably table for a while.