CHELSEA manager Thomas Tuchel admits he thought Tottenham superstar Harry Kane would join Manchester City in the summer.
Kane announced his desire to leave Spurs in May when City tried to capitalise, but they were unable to meet the asking price.
Reports suggested the Blues were also linked with the England captain but Tuchel insists that wasn’t the case and Romelu Lukaku was always his top target.
Speaking about Kane’s proposed move to Man City, the German manager admitted: “I thought that this would happen.”
“We never had a list with his name on it and I never went to Marina Granovskaia to tell her to buy him.
“But the club sorted out the situation. There are many people around players, their agents and advisors and people in between and we had some information from these people.
“But it was never that close that we had to experience the rivalry [between Tottenham and Chelsea].
“We know about the rivalry but I had a feeling that it was never that far.”
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Tuchel, though, insists that he wouldn’t have feared City any more with Kane in their squad during the Premier League title chase.
But the former Borussia Dortmund boss admits he was pleased with the 28-year-old proving to be a one-club man.
Tuchel added: “No, I was not scared, but if it would have happened, I would have been very interested in how maybe it would have changed Manchester City’s style of playing.
“We are not afraid of anyone. We accept any team and Manchester City, Man United and Liverpool, they are the teams strong like no other in this league and they have strong squads.
“These are the guys with whom we want to compete and it’s normal that they fight for the best players and I thought this is maybe going to happen.
“On one side I was happy that he stayed because it is also nice that it exists in football that players play for one club only.
“Harry Kane is Tottenham and even for me – I have absolutely nothing to do with Tottenham, I have never worked for them – when I think about Tottenham in the last decade you think about Harry Kane and this is very nice.
“Like you think about [Lionel] Messi and straight away you think about Barcelona and it is very hard to think that he plays for another club now, and that’s the same for Harry Kane.
“So, from this side, I was happy because I like it and a part of my personality is still a fan and I like that things like this happen.
“It is also nice that Romelu Lukaku is back at Chelsea and some things are a good fit and should not be changed.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
