Check why Antonio Conte is confident that Harry Kane will stay with Tottenham

Antonio Conte is confident a top-four finish will persuade Harry Kane to remain at Tottenham for the rest of his career.

England captain Kane, who turns 30 in July, will have a single season remaining on his current deal when the 2022-23 campaign is concluded.

Conte urged Spurs to tie down their talismanic striker in August but Kane revealed in January that there had ‘not been much talk’.

There will be no shortage of clubs ready to swoop but Conte hinted that another crack at the Champions League might persuade Kane to stay. Spurs kick-off at bottom club Southampton today in fourth four points ahead of Newcastle, who have a game in hand.

‘To finish in the top four could be very important for everybody, first of all for the club and for the players, the manager, and the fans,’ Conte said.

‘For sure if you finish in the top four many, many situations are more simple because you know that we are going to play the Champions League. The best players and the best clubs want to play in these competitions.

‘We have this idea but other clubs have the same idea. We will see what happens.’

Conte’s own future has yet to be resolved as the Italian is out of contract at the end of the season.

It would be no surprise if the former Chelsea manager moved on and he admitted that so far he has been a failure, for being unable to end a Tottenham trophy drought that dates back to 2008.

‘After a year and a half we improved many aspects but sometimes during this path, I think we’ve failed,’ he said.

‘We failed because we weren’t ready to face the right pressure and stress.

‘I understand the fans are frustrated because this season wasn’t good to lift a trophy but I can tell them we are working very hard to make them proud and to try to be ready to lift trophies.

‘During your career, failure is part of the job. The most important thing is to work hard to try and avoid failure.

‘Sometimes failure pushes you to become stronger and make yourself better.

‘For the big coaches, the expectation is to lift a trophy: it’s the same for me here, and if we don’t lift a trophy the first responsibility falls on the coach. I know the expectations of myself are really high.’