Harry Kane insists club cliques will not divide England’s players amid Premier League title race

England captain Harry Kane has insisted that there are no club cliques in this unified squad.

England have gathered at St George’s Park this week amid the tightest Premier League title race in years, and while England squads in the recent past were riven by club divides with rivals refusing to talk to each other, Kane assured at his press conference that this time it was different. This England squad is “100 per cent together”.

The England teams of Sven Goran Eriksson were famously divided with the Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea players reluctant to mix together because of their loyalty to their clubs. It has often been ascribed as a reason why that generation of players underachieved so badly. But Gareth Southgate has picked a squad with plenty of Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur players and, according to Kane, they are all on the same page when they join up with England.

That unity and togetherness in the England squad is, in Kane’s view, one of the reasons why this team has done so well. They reached the semi-finals of the World Cup last summer and are in the semis of the Nations League this June.

“I think that’s been part of our success,” Kane said at St George’s Park on Tuesday afternoon. “We’ve heard about things happening in the past: people sitting on different tables and teams being divided. You just can’t have that in a team. You need to be 100% together.”

So Kane was clear that the City and Liverpool players are not divided when they come on England camps like this one. Because they are focused on the Euro 2020 qualifiers against Czech Republic and Montenegro this month.

“I think every looks forward to coming away with England and meeting up again,” Kane said. “It’s a totally different thing, of course. Of course you have a bit of banter about it, but everyone is on to England. That’s important. When you come away, you have to give 100%, so everything else is put to the side. When you go back [to your clubs], it starts up again.”

Pointing to the specific examples of Raheem Sterling and Jordan Henderson, key players for City and Liverpool respectively, Kane said that their relationship with England was immaculate.

“Since I’ve been here, it’s been good,” Kane said. “Hendo’s getting on with Raheem, and Walks [Kyle Walker] and Trent [Alexander-Arnold]. So, again, with Hendo and Raheem for example, they’ve known each other a long time. Of course they want to beat each other, but they’re not going to let that get in the way of what’s important this week, which is the international game. I don’t need to talk to them about that or anything. They do that naturally.”

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