Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler believes that Tottenham will struggle to keep hold of Antonio Conte and Harry Kane if the club don't finish in the Champions League this season.
Although there have been signs of improvement under the Italian, Spurs have been wildly inconsistent this season and now face a battle with north London rivals Arsenal for the coveted fourth spot in the Premier League. Going into today's game with Leicester, the Lilywhites are two points behind Mikel Arteta's team with just five games to go - including the all-important North London Derby at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in just over a week's time.
Nevertheless, with time running out, Fowler thinks that if they don't manage to qualify for Europe's top competition, their manager and the best player will look to move on for the sake of their respective careers. "If they don't finish in the Champions League spots, I can't see Kane or Conte having the appetite to trudge around the margins of Europe in a minor competition again next season," he wrote in his Mirror column.
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"I remember Harry's face when they lost to Mura. I barely even remember where they come from (and apologies to the good people of Slovenia, no offence!), but that sort of embarrassment sticks in the memory. If it is a choice between that sort of game or moving to a club with a better prospect of joining the big boys at the top table, then I reckon neither of them would think twice at this stage of their careers."
Fowler went on to concede that it's not as simple as that as they remain under contract, but he thinks Daniel Levy made a mistake by not selling Kane last summer.
"OK, it's not as simple as that," he added. "They are under contract, I get it, and we saw with Kane last year, Daniel Levy can be incredibly bloody-minded in negotiations. But I reckon the Spurs chairman is regretting that stance now. What were City offering, £130million? I remember there was talk of throwing in Bernardo Silva and even Aymeric Laporte.
"Kane is a year older – he'll be 29 this summer – and has a year less on his contract. He's not getting any more expensive – and that's before you even consider that he was nowhere near his best for the first half of the season.
"How are they going to finance the rebuild that is clearly required? Tottenham are miles away from Chelsea, never mind Liverpool or City, and, in terms of young talent and the potential currently at the club, they are possibly behind Arsenal. It's between those two now for the last spot. You have to believe that Manchester United, with all their resources, can't remain this bad. But this is a guy who walked out of Inter Milan because of broken promises and players being sold."
The Englishman also thinks that Conte's time at Inter should remind Levy that he'll be willing to negotiate a way out. "He [Conte] even kicked off at Chelsea because he felt he wasn't backed enough, so Lord knows what he thinks now.
"What we do know is he will walk if he doesn't get what he wants, and it doesn't matter how tough a negotiator Levy is, it won't stop him. We've heard the noises already, of course. I don't know if that's just bluster, but if they don't get into the Champions League, I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he went at the end of the season."
