Amid reports that Tottenham Hotspur have agreed a deal with Bayern Munich for the sale of Harry Kane, head coach Ange Postecoglou said that the striker's "mind was already made up" to leave after their first conversation.
"I didn't see the point in that [trying to convince Harry Kane to stay], whatever I was going to say was going to irrelevant," Postecoglou said in his pre-match press conference ahead of Spurs' Premier League opener at Brentford on Sunday.
"My feeling was that we'll get to know each other and that would be the best way to navigate the early relationship.
"Having said that, in my mind I thought he'd already decided to go after the first conversation. I tried to treat him with the respect his standing deserves."
Postecoglou went on to stress that Kane, who is reported to be on his way for a medical in Germany, would not have found any decision to leave Spurs an easy one.
"Harry Kane is one of the greats of this football club and there must have been some torment inside," he said of the club's all-time record goalscorer.
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"While it would have been great to have it sorted earlier I always through it was going to be borderline. The one thing I was clear on was going into the first game with stuff undecided. It has happened, hopefully we'll have confirmation over the next couple of hours."
Kane has one year left on his deal with Spurs and has been linked with Bayern, managed by former Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel, throughout the summer.
