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Harry Kane's move complicated with Spurs hosting Man City on opening day of season

Matt Law
·9-min read
Harry Kane - Harry Kane's move complicated with Spurs hosting Man City on opening day of season  - GETTY IMAGES
Harry Kane - Harry Kane's move complicated with Spurs hosting Man City on opening day of season - GETTY IMAGES

Harry Kane’s hopes of completing a swift move from Tottenham Hotspur to Manchester City have been complicated by the two clubs being drawn to face each other in the opening round of Premier League fixtures.

Tottenham will entertain Premier League champions City in the first match of the season on the weekend of August 14, two weeks before the summer transfer window shuts.

Sources insist that there is no chance of Spurs chairman Daniel Levy brokering a deal that could see Kane line up against Tottenham for City on the opening day, for what will also be Paulo Fonseca’s first competitive game as the new head coach.

Levy has already warned that he will do what is right for Tottenham in terms of Kane’s future, with the club's valuation of their star man remaining at £150 million.

Even if City are prepared to get close to that figure, then they could now be made to wait until after the first game of the season to sign Kane or accept that he cannot play in the fixture.

Levy is well aware of the anger among supporters and will not risk the planned return of fans for the first game, together with Fonseca’s first match in charge, being overshadowed by Kane immediately facing Tottenham.

While Levy and the club remain desperate to keep Kane, it is understood contingency plans are being made in case he leaves. But it remains to be seen whether or not Tottenham prepare for his departure by making signings or wait until after he leaves and potentially give themselves only a fortnight to find a replacement.

Kane had initially hoped to agree a move to Tottenham before the European Championship, but that was never realistic and he has now parked discussions regarding his future until after England’s tournament ends. He and the rest of his international team-mates are fully focused on preparing for Friday night’s second group game against Scotland at Wembley.

One early boost for Fonseca will be Son Heung-min signing a new contract, with the South Korean believed to be close to formally committing his long-term future to Spurs.

There had been fears that Son could stall on a new contract after Kane made it clear he wants to leave, but talks have progressed well over the last few weeks and both parties are now confident he will sign a deal.

Fonseca has travelled to Ukraine, where his wife is from, for a short holiday before his planned move to England to formally take over as successor to Jose Mourinho at Spurs.

And Telegraph Sport understands that Fonseca will be joined at Tottenham by his trusted ally Tiago Leal, who has worked with him at his past four clubs – Roma, Shakhtar Donetsk, Braga and Pacos Ferreira.

Premier League 2021/22: City begin title defence at Spurs
Premier League fixtures 2021/22 announcement - live updates as clubs' schedules revealed - NMC POOL
Premier League fixtures 2021/22 announcement - live updates as clubs' schedules revealed - NMC POOL

Premier League champions Manchester City will start the defence of their title away to Tottenham after the fixtures for the 2021/22 season were unveiled.

City are among the sides heavily linked with Spurs striker Harry Kane, throwing up the possibility the England captain could line up against the north London club on the opening weekend.

Pep Guardiola's side won the division by 12 points last term ahead of rivals Manchester United, who open their campaign against old foes Leeds at Old Trafford.

Elsewhere on the weekend of August 14, new boys Brentford begin life back in the top flight for the first time in 75 years with a London derby at home to Arsenal, while Championship winners Norwich entertain Liverpool on their return to the Premier League.

Champions League winners Chelsea welcome currently managerless Crystal Palace to Stamford Bridge while Everton, another side looking for a new head coach, host Southampton, with Leicester facing Wolves at the King Power Stadium in an early battle for Midlands bragging rights.

Watford, the third promoted side, take on Aston Villa at Vicarage Road, Brighton visit Burnley and West Ham are away to Newcastle in the other matchday-one fixtures.

The Premier League campaign concludes on May 22 with Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea all finishing on their own turf - against Villa, Wolves and Watford, respectively - while Manchester United round off the term at Crystal Palace.

Sticking in London, Brentford will face Leeds on the final day optimistic it will not be crucial to their survival hopes, while Arsenal play Everton. Elsewhere on the last weekend, Tottenham are at Norwich, Leicester entertain Southampton while Brighton welcome West Ham to the Amex Stadium and Newcastle visit Burnley. PA

09:12 AM

That's it for today's live blog

Thanks for reading.

09:07 AM

Schedules for Chelsea and Arsenal

08:59 AM

And here is Liverpool's complete fixture list

08:55 AM

Manchester United's fixtures in full

08:44 AM

Man City's full fixture list

08:33 AM

Poor Norwich

Last year's Championship winners have got a seriously tough start to life back in the top flight.

08:28 AM

Here's the complete fixture list

For your perusal.

08:16 AM

City on course for yet another record

To start the 2021/22 campaign? This is some going...

08:14 AM

Some key clashes here

08:10 AM

When will your team face its toughest run of games?

08:09 AM

Dates for your diary

Here's a whistle-stop tour of some of the season's biggest games.

Liverpool vs Man Utd at Old Trafford is on October 23, with the return fixture on March 19.

The north London derby is on September 25 and January 15, with the Merseyside derby scheduled for November 30 and April 23.

Man City take on Man Utd at Old Trafford on November 6 before the rivals clash at the Etihad on March 5.

08:05 AM

Here's the second round of fixtures

The Premier League fixtures algorithm has been less than kind to newly-promoted Norwich, who face the last two top flight champions in their first two games back - Liverpool at home on the opening day then Man City away.

  • Arsenal v Chelsea

  • Aston Villa v Newcastle United

  • Brighton v Watford

  • Crystal Palace v Brentford

  • Leeds United v Everton

  • Liverpool v Burnley

  • Manchester City v Norwich City

  • Southampton v Manchester United

  • West Ham United v Leicester City

  • Wolverhampton v Tottenham Hotspur

08:02 AM

Some tasty fixtures on the first day of the season

With Man Utd vs Leeds and Spurs vs Man City the standouts. Tough looking starts for the newly-promoted sides - Brentford host Arsenal while Norwich face Liverpool at Carrow Road. Watford take on Aston Villa.

08:00 AM

Here we go!

Here's the first round of matches in full. At the moment all of these games are scheduled for 3pm on August 14:

  • Brentford v Arsenal

  • Burnley v Brighton

  • Chelsea v Crystal Palace

  • Everton v Southampton

  • Leicester City v Wolverhampton

  • Manchester United v Leeds United

  • Newcastle United v West Ham United

  • Norwich City v Liverpool

  • Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City

  • Watford v Aston Villa

07:59 AM

It's nearly time

Just a minute or so until the fixtures are released (and apologies for the radio silence, we've had some technical difficulties...)

07:41 AM

Brentford are looking forward to it

07:24 AM

Good morning

As if the non-stop football extravaganza that is Euro 2020 isn't enough to keep all fans of the beautiful game busy, the Premier League announces its 2021/22 fixtures today at 9am.

The season will begin on August 14 and end on May 22 following an agreement with shareholders, the English top flight previously confirmed - so not much time for players involved at the Euros to rest up before being thrown back on to the club football merry-go-round.

The final round of the campaign will take place on May 22, 2022 when all games will kick off simultaneously.

Fixture release day is always an exciting one for the newly-promoted clubs - Norwich and Watford managed to bounce straight back up to the Premier League, while Brentford recovered from play-off heartache a year ago to win at Wembley and make it into the promised land.

Sam Dean has had an in-depth look at how Brentford's use of data allowed them to master the transfer market and push on for promotion - how focusing on the finer details helped the west Londoners charge into the Premier League.

Pep Guardiola and Manchester City will be aiming for a fourth title in five years, while Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool will be desperate to find a way to close the gap on last season's runaway winners.

And the likes of Leicester - who only dropped out of the top four in the penultimate week of the season - Spurs, Arsenal and Everton will be aiming to boost their European credentials.

But at the time of writing both Spurs and Everton are still yet to confirm replacement for their outgoing managers, which must make planning for transfers fairly difficult...

Anyway, we'll have a full rundown of the fixtures as soon as they are released and try to highlight the biggest games of the campaign.