Kane on Richarlison: He just wants to play football and he’s a great addition to the team

By Ben Pearce at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Harry Kane has hailed Richarlison’s impact at Tottenham and says he is looking forward to developing a strike partnership with the Brazilian. 

After four substitute appearances, Richarlison made his first Spurs start against Fulham on Saturday and impressed throughout.

The summer signing set up Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s opening goal, created a big chance for Eric Dier and was close to scoring himself a number of times as the north Londoners triumphed 2-1.  

“He was brilliant,” said Kane. ”He came in for Kulu (Dejan Kulusevski) and they’re different players as they play with different feet.  

“Kulu likes to maybe come inside more and make crosses with his left, and Richy I felt was maybe playing closer to me as a striker and linking up and making runs down the middle of the pitch.  

“Whoever plays, we have to make a good connection and I thought we did that [against Fulham]. 

“He’s been doing great every time he came off the bench. He was ready once he started [a game] to make a real impact, and from start to finish he was fighting for every ball, making good runs and getting chances. He was unlucky not to score with his [goal disallowed for] offside, and one off the post.

”He’s got that mindset where every tackle and every training session, he just wants to play football and impress the manager. He’s been a great addition to the team.” 

Richarlison may have earned a starting role for Wednesday’s home match against Marseille as Spurs play their first Champions League match since March 2020. For Kane, it is a long-awaited return to Europe’s elite competition.

”I’m really excited,” he said. “It’s been a few years since we were in it, and we missed it as players and as a club.  

“It’s part of every player’s career that sometimes you go through stages where you can’t play at the top level where you want to be, and that’s where we’ve been at for the past couple of years.  

“When you’re watching the ChampionsLeague, it’s where you want to be and the nights you want. We’re itching to start the competition well. As a player I want to be playing in the biggest competitions. 

“Here at home, under the lights, the crowd will be really excited. We feel like we can do well so we need to go and win.”

Wednesday’s European test is followed by Saturday's trip to Manchester City and a duel between Kane and Erling Haaland, the early favourite for the Premier League Golden Boot after scoring 10 goals in his first six matches. 

“With the players who come to the Premier League, there have been some top strikers in the history of it,” said Kane.  

“It’s no different now. Whoever comes in wants to make a difference. If they’re coming in for Man City or Liverpool they’re good strikers.  

“It’s a long season. He (Haaland) has started well. A few players have started well. But there are lot of games coming up. 

“We need to keep focusing on ourselves and that is all I try to do - help my team - and we’ve had a good start to the season.”