Harry Kane scored his first Premier League goal of the season on Sunday as Tottenham condemned Newcastle to a 3-2 defeat in the Magpies’ first game under new ownership.

The victory saw Spurs move into fifth place in the Premier League, but as well as spoiling the Toon party, Kane’s strike was notable for being his first in the league since being linked to a £130 million move to Manchester City last summer.

The England skipper appeared to be pushing for a switch to City for months and reports claimed that he had initially hoped to seal the deal before Euro 2020.

But player and club made little progress, mainly thanks to the determination of Spurs’ chairman, Daniel Levy, to get the right price for his star player.

And after a relatively slow start to the season for both club and country, Spurs fans will be hoping that their superstar striker, who signed a six-year contract with Spurs in 2018, has now found his shooting boots.

“Harry Kane is fine. People just love to talk,” Seb Jenkins from Spurs Web tells FansBet.

“Even though he was definitely below his peak standards, I think Kane’s form was blown out of proportion in the opening weeks.

“The man has always been a slow starter in the Premier League and, this year, he came in without a pre-season. He also missed the first game and only had a cameo in the next.

“Goals always relieve pressure for strikers. I don’t think Kane puts himself under any particular pressure though.

“We all knew the goal was going to come, including Harry, who will be delighted to get off the mark and goals only breed confidence, so it’s certainly a good thing moving forward.

“At the very least, it will stop the pundits bringing up his goal ‘drought’ every five minutes.”

Going into the Newcastle United clash on Sunday, Kane had played six Premier League matches this season without finding the net, leading to speculation regarding his form since the move to City broke down.

His late return from holiday in August meant Kane missed the opening two games of the season – an opening day win over Manchester City and the Europa Conference League defeat at Pacos de Ferreira.

But the England forward, who had been on holiday in the Bahamas and Florida following Euro 2020, later insisted that he has never refused to train in the hope to push through a move away.

His first appearance of the season came as a substitute in Spurs’ victory at Wolves in late August, however, coming off the bench in the 71st-minute as Tottenham grabbed a 1-0 win thanks to an early Dele Alli penalty.

“Once you take all of that into account, he only went five or six games without a goal, which was essentially his little pre-season period,” says Seb.

“He has looked sharper in recent weeks and, even though they have come mainly in lesser competitions, he already has ten goals for club and country this season.

“He just needed time to get up to speed. The difference we are seeing now is that he is match-sharp and the formation change gets him involved in the game more.

“I think Nuno and the fans will be much more thrilled with the overall performance than the Kane goal.

“What seemed more up in the air was whether Nuno is going to find a way of playing that works? This 4-2-3-1 seems to be working very well, for the time being at least, and the Kane goal is just a bonus that comes from that extra creativity.

“A free-scoring Kane is essential to any form of Tottenham success, but free-scoring is really the only way that man knows how, so I’m sure we have no worries there.

“Switching from a flat 4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1 has provided Spurs with a creative spark in that number ten role, while also allowing Kane to either make his runs or drop into the pocket with Son and Moura bursting in behind.

“Harry Kane has always made Spurs tick, but I think the key this season is to find a way for Tottenham to create more for him, for other players to step up, and for Spurs to tick without him if needs be.”

Back in August Spurs reportedly rejected an initial £100m bid from City as well as a further one in the region of £127m, repeatedly insisting to the champions that Kane was not for sale.

It appeared that the England captain was hoping that City would come back with an offer that might change Levy’s mind before the August 31st deadline – something in the region of £150m.

However, no such offer materialised and he remains a Tottenham player, at least until the transfer window reopens at the turn of the year.

“I am one million percent sure he is not going to leave in January,” claims Seb.

“Even he has indicated himself that he is committed to Tottenham for this entire season and there is no way Daniel Levy would sell up half-way through a campaign.

“Kane is here until next summer, at the very least and, to be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him sign a new contract with a £125m/£150m buy-out at some point this season.

“In terms of his mindset, I think the whole argument that Kane wasn’t committed and the failed move to Man City was affecting him was a lazy one.

“Kane has always been a professional, he always works hard and no matter whether he wanted to leave or not, wearing the Spurs shirt means a lot to him. Again, I don’t think we have any worries on that front.”

Nuno Espirito Santo’s men went into the match searching for back-to-back league wins after defeating Aston Villa before the international break.

And Spurs had to deal with a party atmosphere at St James’ following the hosts’ takeover and the volume was turned up after Callum Wilson gave the Geordies the lead two minutes in.

However, Nuno’s side turned things around promptly and were 3-1 ahead at half-time before Eric Dier’s own goal late on handed the Magpies a consolation.

Tottenham now host West Ham on Sunday, who looked impressive in their 1-0 win at Everton on Sunday – a victory that moved David Moyes’ side up to seventh in the Premier League table.

The perfect stage then for Harry Kane to prove his doubters wrong and demonstrate his commitment to winning with Spurs this season.

“I’m not sure every Tottenham fan has been that patient with Kane, to be honest,” explains Seb.

“I’ve seen a lot of criticism and questions regarding his character on social media over the past month or so.

“But I’m sure he would love nothing more than to prove he is still committed to Spurs this season by scoring a hat-trick against West Ham at the weekend.”

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