Benoit Assou-Ekotto is not surprised former team-mate Harry Kane is still at Spurs, despite the England captain believing he had a gentleman’s agreement with chairman Daniel Levy that he could join Manchester City.
Assou-Ekotto, a cult figure and independent thinker during nine years at Tottenham between 2006 and 2015, says he also had an understanding with Levy he could leave for a Champions League club, but a deal never materialised.
Now 37, he realises that at the top level of football, a verbal promise is not worth the paper it is written on.