Mourinho: "What I can promise to my friend Steve Holland and for Gary [Gareth Southgate] not to be jealous, for my friend Gary, I can promise that until the end of the season I don't play Harry Kane one minute of any friendly match."
Friday 2 October 2020 08:19, UK
Jose Mourinho has responded to Gareth Southgate's comments regarding Harry Kane by promising the England head coach the striker will not be involved in Tottenham's friendly matches.
Kane scored a hat-trick and set up another goal as Tottenham eased through to the Europa League group stage with a 7-2 win over Maccabi Haifa in what was Spurs' third match in just five days.
A number of Premier League managers, including Mourinho, expressed concerns over their players' fitness levels ahead of the upcoming international fixtures.
Mourinho previously said he hopes England's coaches "respect" his Tottenham players, but insisted he would not "call or ask or beg", and Southgate joked in response: "He won't phone, but he will stand on top of Tottenham's stadium and tell us."
Speaking after Thursday's win, Mourinho returned fire promising Southgate and assistant Steve Holland he will not play Kane in non-competitive Tottenham fixtures.
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"His match was a fundamental match for us. A match that means a few million pounds and means that we are in a group phase of a competition that we have ambitions," he said.
"What I can promise to my friend Steve Holland and for Gary [Gareth Southgate] not to be jealous, for my friend Gary, I can promise that until the end of the season I don't play Harry Kane one minute of any friendly match."
Southgate revealed his plans on Thursday to rotate heavily between England's fixtures and says no player in his 30-man squad is likely to start in all three matches.
The Europa League draw for the 2020/21 season takes place on Friday, with Arsenal, Leicester, Tottenham, Celtic and Rangers set to learn their fate.
The draw takes place at 12pm on Friday, October 2 at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland.
You can follow draw with our live blog on the Sky Sports website and app.
