Harry Kane “confident” he’ll be fit for Champions League final

You can file this story under “Things We Already Knew.” According to the Evening Standard, Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane is “confident” that he will be fit and ready to play against Liverpool in the Champions League final on June 1.

Kane has been out with his second ankle injury of the season since injuring it lunging into a tackle in Spurs’ first Champions League quarterfinal match against Manchester City in early April. Since then, Kane has been working diligently to be back in time for the final at the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid. After Tottenham’s final Premier League match, a draw against Everton last Sunday, Kane told members of the press that he was set to start straight-line running outside shortly.

Kane was also named to Gareth Southgate’s preliminary squad for this summer’s Nations League finals, which suggested he felt confident in Harry’s timeline for a return.

The news that Kane is planning on being ready to go by the first of June isn’t a surprise in the slightest. Nobody doubted for a single moment that Kane wouldn’t feature in some way in this game, the biggest Tottenham Hotspur match in the past 40 years. The question wasn’t whether he’d play, it’s how fit he’ll be when he takes the pitch. That’s still an open question — the Standard suggests that Pochettino will probably have a decision as to whether Kane will be healthy enough to start, or if he’ll be coming off the bench.

The good news is that Kane still has two weeks to get ready for the match, but it sounds as though everything seems to be proceeding according to plan. Certainly, having Kane back for the final would be a big boost to a Spurs team that is one win away from being crowned Champions of Europe.