Today’s back pages: new Spurs boss Jose Mourinho insists Harry Kane must stay

Mourinho: Kane must stay

After a dramatic 24 hours at Tottenham Hotspur Jose Mourinho arrived at his new club yesterday to take charge of his first training session.

The “Special One” was named Spurs’s new head coach following the sacking of Mauricio Pochettino on Tuesday.

On his first day in the job he held a meeting with his squad and also spoke individually with senior players, including star striker Harry Kane.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The Daily Telegraph, Daily Express and Daily Star all report that Mourinho has insisted he can deliver success but keeping England captain Kane is critical to the club’s fortunes.

“No Harry, no Jose”, says the Express back page, with the paper reporting that Kane staying was “key” to Mourinho taking the Spurs job.

The Star adds that the former Chelsea and Manchester United manager agreed to take over at Spurs after being promised that Kane would not be sold until at least June 2021.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For analysis of the biggest sport stories - and a concise, balanced take on the week’s news - try The Week magazine. Start your trial today –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

‘Passion, real passion’

Mourinho gave his first interview to the Spurs website and he spoke of the “real passion” he will bring to the north London club.

He said: “I couldn’t be happier and look forward to the challenge. What can I promise? Passion, real passion. Passion for my job, but also passion for my club, that’s the way I have been all my career and I want to try, obviously, everything to bring happiness to everyone who loves the club.”

The Sun reports that Mourinho’s “gone all Spursy” by declaring his love for his new squad, which he has vowed not to tear apart.

“I always told about the club’s potential,” he added. “I always told about the qualities of the players, I always told about the magnificent work the club was doing to keep all the good players that the majority of the big clubs in Europe would be looking for.

“I really like this squad. Of course, I’m not going to say names, I’m not going to tell you individuals because this is completely against my concept of what a team has to be, but I like a lot the ability of the squad.”

Today’s back pages

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For analysis of the biggest sport stories - and a concise, balanced take on the week’s news - try The Week magazine. Start your trial today –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––