BIG PETE: Ryan Mason on his bond with Harry Kane, leaving Spurs, and his career-ending injury

[embed guid="25bc3a8d-0044-469e-9bea-7050035c50fb" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kizAj69C1vM" social-type="youtube" /][p]Under Pochettino's leadership, a group of academy graduates formed an exceptionally energetic team. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mason-ryan/G6ZzTHKA/"]Mason[/a] was especially close to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kane-harry/v5HSlEAa/"]Harry Kane[/a]—they shared a room as teenagers at a youth tournament in Mexico and later gained more experience together. The highlight was the 2015/16 season, when Spurs were in the title race for a long time, but ran out of steam in the spring finish and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/leicester/KrrdAMyI/"]Leicester[/a] celebrated the trophy. [b]"Not getting it over the line was a failure, but at the same time, I don't think we as players weren't ready to win the Premier League."[/b][/p][p]At 25, the English midfielder decided to leave his boyhood club, influenced in part by financial incentives during the planning of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/tottenham/UDg08Ohm/"]Tottenham's[/a] new stadium, but mainly by his desire for regular playing time. [b]"Looking back, I don't regret things in life, but it was a bad time to leave. At 25, I made a decision that felt right for me: I just wanted to go and play, rather than only play half the games,"[/b] he explained his thinking at the time.[/p][p]His playing career ended for good after a clash during a corner kick, in which he suffered a fractured skull and then spent weeks bedridden in severe pain, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cech-petr/fTjQ34vo/"]Petr Čech[/a] himself visiting him in the hospital. He could not return to professional football, but he hung up his boots at peace: [b]"I was able to end my career because I knew I had given everything I had."[/b][/p][p][i]The full TV version of this episode of the Big Pete documentary series will be available on CANAL+ Sport and the CANAL+ streaming service in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, France, Poland, Myanmar, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Romania, and Hungary, and on SuperSport in South Africa and Switzerland.[/i][/p]