Tottenham Hotspur manager Nuno Espirito Santo said striker Harry Kane will be available for the opening Premier League match against Manchester City on Sunday.
Kane, 28, returned to the club's Tottenham Way training complex on Saturday and is quarantining and training alone at the on-site hotel until Thursday. The England captain has made it clear that he wants to leave Spurs this summer with Manchester City reported to be his preferred destination.
As fate would have it, Tottenham's first match of the new season is against City at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Kane could be lining up against Pep Guardiola's side.
Asked about Kane's availability for the season opener, Nuno told Sky Sports News: “All the players in the squad that work on a daily basis will be options for us, then it's up to us to decide.”
Kane had been accused of failing to turn up for pre-season PCR testing last weekend, but the England captain issued a statement on social media insisting that his return to the club was always “planned” for Saturday.
Nuno, who was appointed Tottenham manager in June, said he was due to have a “socially distanced” meeting with Kane on Monday with the aim of finding a “solution” that suits all sides.
“First of all we have to speak,” the Portuguese said. “This is going to happen today, and after that we hope to solve all the situations.
“It's not about [Kane's late return], it's about what we have to do to solve the situation — this is important.
“We have to solve it together, everybody involved has to solve it together — speaking, having a nice conversation and putting our opinions, but everybody together.”
Kane still has three years remaining on the six-year contract he signed in 2018, so from a negotiation standpoint, Tottenham hold the power. The club already rejected a bid from City of around £100m earlier in the summer and value Kane at closer to £150m.
Guardiola on Friday admitted City do have a concrete interest in signing Kane this summer but any deal would depend on Tottenham's readiness to negotiate.
“I think Man City and many clubs in the world want to try to sign him, we are not an exception, but it depends on Tottenham,” he said. “Harry is exceptional and we are interested in him but if Tottenham don't want to negotiate, nothing more to say.”
Tottenham have been heavily linked with a move for Inter Milan's Argentine forward Lautaro Martinez, with media outlets reporting that the Italian champions have accepted a £60m bid, although his agent, Alejandro Camano, later said: “Lautaro is happy at Inter and in Italy. His decision is to stay.”
It was unclear whether Spurs had targeted Martinez as a replacement for Kane or as a teammate. Kane has scored 166 goals in 245 appearances for Tottenham but is yet to win any trophies.
