Kane, celebrating after scoring for Tottenham against Manchester City, is a vital player for Pochettino and suffered from fatigue at the end of last season

Harry Kane and his Tottenham Hotspur team-mates stood on the pitch at Wembley last season, clutching their losers’ medals, hair still soaked from the rain, spirits down by their boots and looking up at the royal box. Mauricio Pochettino insisted that his players stay on to salute John Terry and a celebrating Chelsea as they lifted the League Cup.

It was a matter of “respect”, Pochettino insisted later, and he also wanted to make his side experience “the feeling you don’t want to repeat again”, the pain of being so close to glory, within touching distance of silverware but leaving empty-handed and broken-hearted.

Shrewd signings have since bedded in, like the box-to-box-office Dele Alli and one of the defenders of the season in Toby Alderweireld.