As Harry Kane and Eric Dier walked back to the tunnel at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday, full of emotion and commemorative gifts in hand, and saw the crowd jump to their feet and thank them for their combined 800 games for the club, they could be forgiven for accidentally turning into the wrong dressing room.
Two of Tottenham’s most important players of the last decade will line up in familiar surroundings to play a friendly for Bayern Munich, and Spurs will take the opportunity to thank both for their achievements in a pre-match ceremony that will likely overshadow the game itself.
The nature of modern football makes farewells difficult. The player flies to his new club as soon as the deal is completed. There is hardly any opportunity for a proper farewell. Eric Dier said The athlete in an interview in April that he had just enough time for a few phone calls before he prepared to leave. He wasn’t offended in the least. “That’s just how business works. Let’s go, see you later.”
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It is therefore fitting for Kane and Dier – and for many Spurs staff and fans – that they have this opportunity to say thank you and goodbye together.
It also gives people a chance to reflect on what Kane and Dier achieved during their time at the club. They were two of the most important players of the Mauricio Pochettino era and embodied the youthful energy that was at its heart. The fondest memories will always be from that time. But they were also reliable in the bad times. Both shone during that brief period when it looked like Antonio Conte could lead Tottenham back to the top.
Dier and Kane in training with Bayern (Stefan Matzke – sampics/Getty Images)
While there was interest from elsewhere, Kane and Dier both stayed at Tottenham when some of their teammates began to leave the club. And the fact that they left when they did – Kane at the start of the Ange Postecoglou era, Dier six months later – underlined the feeling of a fresh new beginning. They left without saying anything good about the club and the new era. Dier was even very flattering about Postecoglou, despite the latter’s lack of play last season.
Between them they brought almost 20 years of first-team experience with them. And perhaps you only have to see them play against Spurs in the stadium this weekend to realise how valuable that is. You can’t just replace players like that.
Tottenham clearly took a big step when they signed centre-back Micky van de Ven from Wolfsburg last summer, one of the best young defenders in Europe. He was a revelation last season and his speed made him perfect for ‘Angeball’.
But Dier was more than just a performer on the pitch. He was one of the team’s leaders, the glue in the dressing room; what sports psychologists call a “cultural architect”. The fact that he made a special effort to help Van de Ven settle in last summer is a typical example of this.
Tottenham lost a lot of experience last year – not just Dier and Kane, but Hugo Lloris and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg too. And one of the big questions for this season is whether Spurs can maintain the same level and consistency without those experienced players who were so important behind the scenes. The start of last season suggests they certainly can. But given the way they faded at the end of the season, maybe not.
But replacing Kane was a different matter entirely.
The Kane mural outside Tottenham Hotspur’s stadium (Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)
Even today, you have to work a little harder to understand how much the striker meant to Spurs. Not only was he their all-time leading goalscorer. Not only their best player during his entire time at the club. Not only arguably Tottenham’s best player in modern times. But someone who seemed to be synonymous with the whole club.
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Spurs have sold great players before and wondered how to replace them. When Kyle Walker went to Manchester City in 2017, they already had Kieran Trippier. When Gareth Bale went to Real Madrid, they signed seven players and let Nacer Chadli play on the left for the next few years. When Luka Modric was sold to Madrid, they tried all summer to sign Joao Moutinho without success and then struggled in midfield for years.
But none of these situations – not even that of Bale, who was one of the best players in the world in 2013 – compares to that of Kane.
None of these players had a huge mural on the side of a building just off the High Road. It’s not often that clubs sell one of their all-time stars after a long time with the team while still being their best player. The only example that springs to mind is Arsenal selling Thierry Henry to Barcelona in 2007 at the age of 29.
Tottenham must have known how irreplaceable Kane was because they made no serious effort to find an equivalent replacement at the time. The only strikers they signed last season were Manor Solomon, Brennan Johnson and Timo Werner – none of whom have the qualities of Kane.
They relied on Son Heung-min and Richarlison to alternate as No. 9. Son never seemed comfortable there. Richarlison had a very good run in the middle of the season but struggled to maintain his form. Often it seemed like they were missing at least one top striker, if not two. But with just 41 games played last season, they managed to muddle through.
This was not an option this time.
They needed a new experienced striker. Earlier this summer they discovered Dominic Solanke from Bournemouth and now a deal is imminent. Unlike Son or Richarlison, Solanke is not going to play centrally or out wide. He will bring many of the qualities – holding up play, linking play, staying wide of the box – to Spurs that they have lacked since Kane left.
Solanke in action against Tottenham last season (Robin Jones – AFC Bournemouth/AFC Bournemouth via Getty Images)
In a sense, Solanke is the belated replacement for Kane, although it is not helpful to attach that label to a player.
Perhaps coming a year after Kane left will make it easier for him to play up front at Spurs. He will never be able to step out of Kane’s shadow – the 280 goals and the mural outside the stadium make that impossible – but perhaps arriving this summer will give him a better chance of succeeding in his own way.
Tottenham hope Solanke can build his own legacy.
(Top photos: Getty Images)
