Newly appointed Aston Villa boss Tim Sherwood has claimed he blocked Tottenham from cashing in on Harry Kane.
Sherwood has been credited with helping Kanea s development during his previous job as Spursa technical director and the 46 year old tactician gave the 21-year-old his first Premier League start for Tottenham in April 2014 during his spell as Tottenham head coach.
The Spurs striker has earned his first senior England call-up for the games against Lithuania and Italy at the end of the month.
Harry has represented his Country at U-17, U-19, U-20 and U-21 levels , but this is the first time he has been called up for the senior squad.
After praising Kane for winning his first call-up to the senior England squad, Sherwood claimed several Tottenham officials wanted to sell the youngster in order to bring in another striker but he a wouldna t allow it to happena .
Sherwood said: a When I first put Harry in the team, Roberto Soldado was on the bench, and after 30 minutes if Harry hadna t scored the fans would be singing for Soldado to come on.
a It took time for Harry to win them over but they love him now and theya re reaping the rewards for it.
a I am delighted for him. Ita s just great I resisted the temptation to get rid of him last January because perhaps he wouldna t be the star he is for Tottenham now.
a He was never close to leaving in my opinion but there were people at the club who wanted to bring in another striker and sacrifice Harry Kane a but I wouldna t allow that to happen.”
Kane has been in phenomenal form this season , scoring 26 goals in all competitions, including 16 in the Premier League.He has scored more than any other English striker this season.
Sherwood added: a We never knew whether he was going to reach the level hea s at now but we knew his mentality, desire and passion for the game was second to none.
a Hea s got tremendous self-belief. He doesna t see anyone as competition; he just sees himself and wanting to improve.”
Sherwood also praised the attitude of Kane’s Spurs teammates ,Christian Eriksen and Gylfi Sigurdsson ,a Tremendous credit should go to Christian Eriksen and Gylfi Sigurdsson. As much as Harry was a fantastic trainer, those two guys spent hours on the training field with him; striking balls, working on the right side, the left side, and showing Harry how to train properly.a
Kane was named as the Premier League Player of the Month for January and February. He became the fourth player after Robbie Fowler ,Dennis Bergkamp and Cristiano Ronaldo to win the award consecutively.