Tuchel Expected Kane To Join Manchester City

Kane was heavily linked with a move to the Premier League champions this summer but eventually reneged on his desire to join Pep Guardiola’s men after Spurs chairman Daniel Levy refused to be bullied into sanctioning his sale.

Chelsea will travel to North London to face Spurs on Sunday and ahead of the game, Tuchel has spoken about Kane’s aborted switch to the Etihad Stadium.

"I thought that this is going to happen," he said of Kane's proposed Manchester City move. "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 Utd 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 and so Harry Kane is Tottenham. 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."