Former Tottenham Hotspur striker Jermain Defoe has expressed his belief that Harry Kane would find it difficult to leave the club due to his loyalty to the North London outfit.
Kane has spent his entire professional career with Spurs, with the exception of four loan spells away between 2011 and 2013, and recently became the club's all-time leading goalscorer.
The 29-year-old surpassed Jimmy Greaves's long-standing record last month and has since built his tally to 271 goals for the club, including more than 200 in the Premier League.
On an individual level, Kane has also become England's joint-leading scorer, picked up a joint-record seven Premier League Player of the Month awards, won three Premier League Golden Boots, been named in the PFA Team of the Year five times, won a World Cup Golden Boot and won the PFA Fans' Player of the Year and Premier League Playmaker of the Season awards.
However, the England captain is yet to lift any silverware as a team for club or country, losing in the finals of the Champions League, European Championship and EFL Cup (twice) with Tottenham and the Three Lions.
Following his achievement of becoming Tottenham's all-time leading scorer and the club's subsequent quickfire exits from the FA Cup and Champions League, speculation once again arose regarding Kane's long-term future in North London amid claims that he is keen to add team trophies to his significant list of individual achievements.
Tottenham's uncertain managerial situation casts further doubt over the situation, with current boss Antonio Conte expected to leave this summer at the latest, and reports suggesting that former manager Mauricio Pochettino - with whom Kane had a good relationship - could be in line for a return.
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With Alan Shearer's Premier League goalscoring record thought to be in his sights, a switch to Manchester United has been touted as the most realistic domestic move, while Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are among the European giants to have been linked with Kane.
Kane's current contract is due to expire in 2024, meaning that this summer could be the last chance Tottenham are able to command a nine-figure sum for their talisman, but the club are not thought to be considering selling the striker.
Even if Spurs were coaxed into listening to offers, Defoe, who played with Kane during his time at Tottenham and is now an academy coach at the club, believes that Kane's loyalty could still tempt him to stay.
"I know there's been lots said about Harry with the trophies and all that sort of stuff, and sometimes that loyalty, where you're so loyal to a football club and the relationship you've got with the fans, sometimes it's not easy to just walk away," he told Sports Mole.
"You get approached by other clubs with more money, but at the same time that sort of loyalty will keep you at the football club."
Like Kane to date, Defoe's legacy is perhaps best remembered for the goals he scored rather than the trophies he won, although the former England international admitted that he wishes he got his hands on more silverware during his career.
The former Sunderland, Portsmouth and West Ham United man was part of the last Tottenham team to win a trophy - the 2008 League Cup - and also helped Rangers to a record 55th Scottish Premiership title as a 38-year-old in 2020-21, a moment he regards as one of the highlights of his career.
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"I believe when I was at Tottenham, with some of the teams I played in we should have won a lot more, 100%. I've had this conversation with ex-teammates, and they've all said the same thing - 'How did we not win more with the quality we had in that dressing room?'" he told Sports Mole.
"I think it was just that knowhow, how to get over the line. We always got close, but then that final hurdle we just couldn't do it. I look at other players, and you see the trophies they've won, and you think that's mad because, no disrespect, but playing with players on that same level or maybe better, we didn't win the FA Cup.
"We won the League Cup, didn't win the FA Cup, Premier League is always difficult to win for any player. You look at Man City now, when I was playing it was Chelsea that were dominating, so that was always going to be a difficult one to win. I remember when AVB (Andre Villas-Boas) was at Tottenham and at one point we were flying, and people were saying Tottenham could win the league - Gareth Bale was flying for us, and again that final hurdle was difficult, just that knowhow to do it.
"But you do look back and think, 'I wish I had won a lot more'. For me, going to Rangers was massive, winning that league title. When I won that league title with Rangers, I knew before I went that was the one the club was craving. Fifty-five league titles, it was probably one of the biggest ones in the club's history, and to be a part of that was really special.
"I look at how respected the likes of Ally McCoist and all these legends are, that didn't even play in the Premier League, well respected in the game because they won. Obviously in Scotland it's a different league, a huge club, but winning a league title in any league is difficult. It doesn't matter where you go, and having that experience, for me it was brilliant.
"I always felt like I deserved to win a league title with all the hard work that I put in, all the goals I scored - I always felt like I deserved it to be honest, whether that's the English Premier League or the Scottish Premier League. Wherever it was, I felt like I deserved it.
"And I felt like it was better than winning a domestic cup because winning a league title means you're the best team throughout the whole campaign, you've shown that consistency when it gets tough, that resilience to keep going and to finish after 38 games and you're number one, that was big."
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Looking back on his time playing alongside Kane at Tottenham, Defoe insists that the prolific forward's potential was obvious from early on.
"I knew from the beginning to be honest. I remember when he used to train with the first team and he was really young, but you could see that appetite, that hunger to score goals, and you don't always see that with young players," he added.
"I looked at him and I thought, he just reminds me of myself. When I was at West Ham and used to train with the first team I wasn't scared, I always used to go with the first team and didn't change my game - I just wanted to score goals, and I saw that with Harry.
"I remember having a conversation with Brad Friedel, and Brad said exactly the same. The rest is history really, what he's achieved is just phenomenal."
Kane could overtake Wayne Rooney as England's outright all-time leading men's scorer in the coming week, with Gareth Southgate's side facing Italy and Ukraine in two Euro 2024 qualifiers during the international break.
The Three Lions will first take on Italy in Naples for a repeat of the Euro 2020 final on Thursday, before welcoming Ukraine to Wembley on Sunday.
Read our full, wide-ranging interview with Jermain Defoe by clicking here.
Barney Corkhill
