Harry Kane has revealed that Mauricio Pochettino wouldn’t pick him when he was appointed Tottenham manager – because he was too fat.
The Spurs striker, 24, explained in a new book about the club serialised by the Mail that he was carrying too much bulk in 2014 and he had to win over the Argentine by sculpting his physique.
Kane was on the fringes of the Tottenham squad three years ago after a series of loan spells and had yet to establish himself firmly in the first team.
“That [first] pre-season [under Pochettino in 2014] I came back from holiday and I thought I was in OK shape.” Kane was quoted as saying in the Mail. “We had our body fat test done and I was the highest in the team, something like 18 per cent!
“I didn’t really want to believe it. I was like, ‘Aargh! This is wrong!’
“I remember one early conversation. I was doing well in the Europa League, but I wasn’t getting into the Premier League team for one reason or another, and I remember getting quite frustrated. So I went to see him and he explained to me that I wasn’t doing enough.
“He said that my body fat was high, I wasn’t trying as hard as I could, and that was it! Maybe other managers would try to beat around the bush and try to keep players happy but he was just straight up.
“He said, ‘You need to do this and this and that’s why you’re not in the squad.’ And it just hit me. This is what I’ve got to do. So I took that on board and I’ve been doing OK since.”
OPINION
It is clear if you look at photos of Kane today compared to three years ago how his body shape has changed. He has become more muscular and sculpted, and now has the perfect physique for a centre-forward. He was never ever podgy, but in elite sporting terms, tiny percentages make a massive difference and top-level footballers need to have very little body fat to maximise their mobility and be able to operate in tight spaces and turn quickly. The slightly tubby kid is now a super smooth operator.