It should be no surprise that Antonio Conte, a man who has built his entire career and reputation on winning, understands that Harry Kane needs to add a trophies column next to those for his appearances and goals.
Kane asked to leave Tottenham Hotspur last summer after another trophyless season with the club and, even though he is now the striker’s head coach at Spurs, Conte can sympathise over why the 28-year-old needs to prioritise silverware over numbers.
In Conte’s belief, it is why Spurs chairman Daniel Levy hired him – to make a statement that the club want to win – but the Italian has also warned that his appointment must be backed up by similar acts of intent.
Disqualified from Europe and 20 points behind Premier League leaders Manchester City, who Kane wanted to join, Tottenham’s best opportunity of winning a trophy this season already looks to be in the Carabao Cup with Conte preparing for the first leg of the semi-final against his former club, Chelsea.
Conte won 14 trophies as a player and has lifted nine as a manager, and clearly believes Kane will live to regret it if he does not finish his career with the silverware to match his talent.
“I understand Harry’s situation,” said Conte. “Because, for sure, when you finish your career and it is good, you can see your appearances and the team wherever you played. But, at the same time, I think that it’s right also when you finish your career to see what you have won.
“I think that this is important, especially for top, top players. Because sometimes it happens that important and top players finish their career with a couple of titles. And instead other players who are medium or medium-low finish their career with many titles.
“I think this is important, this is important. And we have to try to build a situation (at Tottenham) where we are all involved and to try to create a situation that we can be competitive to try to win.
“For sure, at the moment, I think there is an important gap with other teams. I see many, many teams more ready now to win titles at this moment. But we have to work and we have to try to improve in every aspect.”
