Harry Kane is history at Tottenham Hotspur. And even though the second-best goalscorer in Premier League history was bid farewell as a club legend, it wasn’t long before his long-time shirt number was reassigned. Just before the league opener at Brentford this Sunday, Spurs announced that summer signing James Maddison will start the new season with the 10 on his shirt, which was reserved for Kane for eight years.
The 30-year-old attacker completed his 110 million euro move to FC Bayern on Saturday and will, of course, receive the shirt number 9 in Munich, which remained free for a year after Robert Lewandowski left FC Barcelona. Spurs initially left Maddison’s number open after his commitment from relegated Leicester City. Kane’s team-mate on the England national team had provisionally worn the 71 in the pre-summer season.
Son succeeds Lloris: ‘It was a huge surprise’
Meanwhile, the new Spurs captain is Heung-Min Son, who does not follow Kane but Hugo Lloris. The goalkeeper has had the bandage on his arm since 2015 but is likely to leave the club this summer. For the time being, new signing Guglielmo Vicario, who came from FC Empoli for around 20 million euros, is starting the season as the new number 1 (even if he wears the 13 on his back).
The ex-Hamburg and -Leverkusener Son, Kane’s congenial offensive partner for years, has been playing at Tottenham since 2015 and was recently one of the leading players. New coach Ange Postecoglou announced his captaincy decision on Saturday night. “Sonny has great leadership qualities and is the ideal choice,” said the Australian. “Everyone knows he’s a world-class player. He’s hugely respected by everyone in the dressing room.”
Son (“It was a huge surprise”) spoke of a great honor and appealed to all teammates to also “feel like a captain – on and off the pitch”. The 31-year-old South Korean’s official deputies are Maddison and Cristian Romero.
