Harry Kane (£10.8m) is the focus of the latest article in our series that looks at players who could make an impact in Fantasy Premier League after recovering from injury.
The Tottenham Hotspur striker has been absent since New Year’s Day with a hamstring problem but now looks set to play a part in the season run-in when the Premier League restarts in June.
Not since 2015/16 has Kane been available for a lower price and he is now the second-cheapest of the seven £10.0m+ assets in FPL.
There is a reason for that, of course, with the goals not quite flowing at the same rate of previous campaigns.
With free-scoring premium midfielders eating up a large chunk of our budget and mid-price forwards providing excellent value, does Kane stand any chance of piercing the ‘template’ set-up?
We delve into the numbers to assess his credentials.
WHAT IS KANE’S FITNESS LATEST?
Kane sustained his injury in the Gameweek 21 defeat at Southampton, stretching to meet a Christian Eriksen free-kick and quickly signalling to the visitors’ bench that he needed to be replaced.
Spurs later confirmed that their striker had suffered a tear in his left hamstring and would undergo surgery, with a comeback in mid-April pencilled in.
The coronavirus outbreak pushed that return date further back, of course, and he will have been on the sidelines for almost a full six months by the time he takes to the field again.
There have been positive noises coming out of the Spurs camp over the past few weeks regarding Kane’s fitness.
Speaking on May 29, boss Jose Mourinho said of Kane and his other injured players:
In relation to the big injuries that ended in surgeries, Moussa, Sonny and Harry, yes, they are back.
We are going to start training with the full group next Monday [June 1], and yes, they are going to be involved in the group.
Spurs had reopened their training ground for individual fitness work at the back-end of April, with Kane among those on site.
The player was then involved in small-group sessions from mid-May as ‘Project Restart’ ramped up.
Speaking on May 18, Kane himself said of his fitness:
I’ve just been ticking along, really.
Obviously I got injured on January 1, so whenever we start playing again it’s going to be at least six or seven months before I play another game, which is a very long time.
We’ve had Zoom sessions with the team straight away since lockdown to continue our fitness.
It’s been different, it’s a new experience for me and obviously all the other players, but we’ve been cracking on and are going along with the government’s advice and guidelines and just taking it as it comes.
Over the last week or so we’ve been able to go on the pitch at the training ground one-on-one with a member of staff and do a bit there, so at least I’ve been able to get out of the house a little bit, which has been nice.
It was good just to get out and kick a ball around a little bit. I didn’t touch a ball for like six weeks, so it was great to go back and get a bit of normality back.
WHOSE PLACE WILL HE TAKE?
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