Nuno to make late call on whether Harry Kane faces Manchester City

Tottenham boss Nuno Espirito Santo says he will decide whether Harry Kane will be involved against Manchester City after Saturday’s training session.

The England captain joined in with group training for the first time on Friday following a five-day quarantine period at the club’s training ground which came after he returned late from holiday.

Kane, who wants to join City this summer, was expected back from the Bahamas last Monday but did not show as he tried to force a move away.

Nuno spoke with the 28-year-old for the first time since his appointment and will take another look at Kane on Saturday.

“Harry joined the group today, he trained, we had a talk,” Nuno said on Friday.

“Of course it’s a private conversation but everything is OK. He’s preparing himself, like Bryan (Gil), like (Cristian) Romero, players that joined us later.

“We have to be careful but everything’s OK. We still have the session tomorrow to decide on players that don’t have too many sessions with us. We have to think and we still have the day of tomorrow to make decisions.

“He’s here with us. He’s a Tottenham player. We have to think about tomorrow. Let’s prepare the training session of tomorrow and go day by day.

“All the players who work with us are our players.”

Given Kane’s desire to join City, whose boss Pep Guardiola publicly expressed his interest last week, questions have to be asked whether the striker is in the right frame of mind to play against the club he wants to play for.

Nuno did not reveal anything about the nature of his talks with Kane, but said: “My job is to prepare Tottenham players the best that I can.

“I don’t have any concerns about trying to convince players to play for Tottenham.

“It’s such a huge, it’s such a fantastic club. We should be proud of being here. My job is to prepare. Players know that that’s the way we work. I prepare them every day.”

Kane’s future has cast a dark cloud over what has otherwise been a promising pre-season for Spurs.

It is a saga that continues to run and the Portuguese is keen to create a siege mentality.

“Look, we cannot control what’s happening outside the building. The news, speculation, rumours,” he said.

“All these things that surround us as a club. But we as a group of players we close ourselves.

“That’s the best way to prepare ourselves. Among us cannot be distractions. We’re clear what we have to do and we have a shield. We have to protect that shield as best we can.”

New signing Romero could be involved after recovering from a knee injury, but he too will be assessed after Saturday’s session, along with Gil, who arrived following his silver medal win with Spain at the Olympics.

Nuno said of the Argentinian international: “He is not (match) fit, because players that didn’t have too many sessions – Romero, Bryan, Harry – we have to try and balance the situations but the injury was in the Copa America. He had holidays, he didn’t totally recover, but he has been able to train and he is doing well.

“Players that don’t have too many sessions we have to be very careful when we put them on the pitch.”

One player who will not be on the pitch is Tanguy Ndombele, who did not feature at all in pre-season.

The club’s record buy has not been in Nuno’s thoughts, with the boss suggesting he has not adapted to his philosophy.

“There’s always a reason in all the decisions we make,” he said. “There’s always a why because we think, we talk and then we decide.

“We believe that Tanguy didn’t perform in the pre-season matches because we consider that it’s not the right moment for him to be with the group in terms of competition.

“It is about us to decide the right moment to use the players we have available and when we decide we consider many aspects, not only what we want, but what we think the players should do.

“Like many players in our squad it is not easy to adapt to a new idea, a new philosophy, but we keep on insisting and believing that this is the right way and the right moment will come when we believe when it should be.”