Kane draws admiring glances from Madrid boss Zidane as Spurs prepare for tough night
REAL MADRID coach Zinedine Zidane has hailed Tottenham’s Harry Kane as the “complete player” ahead of tonight’s crunch Champions League clash between the sides.
But Zidane would not be drawn on any future move for the 24-year-old, who is regarded as one of the deadliest finishers in Europe after scoring 15 goals in his last 11 games.
Gareth Bale, who will not face his former club due to a calf injury, and Luka Modric swapped Spurs for Madrid in 2013 and 2012 respectively, and Kane has been linked with following suit.
“I don’t know what will happen in the future,” Zidane said.
“But in the present, what he is doing has made him a very important player – very much a key player.
“He is very good at everything. But what he does, he always does it towards the goal, so to speak. He does not just stay (still) on the field, but he always attacks space at speed.
“He is a complete player. He did not seem to be one (at first), but in the end, he is.”
Kane already has five goals from Tottenham’s opening two group games against Borussia Dortmund and Apoel Nicosia, with some billing this week’s meeting at the Santiago Bernabeu as a showdown between him and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo scored the winner in Madrid’s 2-1 win over Getafe on Saturday while Marca, a football newspaper in the Spanish capital, even pictured Kane’s face on yesterday’s front page, together with the headline ‘Harry el Fuerte’, meaning ‘Harry the Strong’.
“We know he is a very good player and things are going well for him but Tottenham is not just Kane – they are a very good team and we will prepare for the game very well,” Zidane said.
“We are playing against a very good team and that is good for us – it encourages us to play a good match.
“Tottenham has always been a great club, but they are constantly improving and they have a great coach.
It will be a good game between two strong teams. It will be the group final.”
Mauricio Pochettino dismissed suggestions Kane could join Madrid by claiming the striker can be Tottenham’s Francesco Totti.
The Spurs boss believes Kane, who grew up in Walthamstow and came through the club’s academy, is very much in the mould of the famous Italian striker.
Totti played all 24 years of his professional career at Roma, after also starting out there as a teenager, before bidding an emotional farewell earlier this year.
“The most important thing is that Harry is happy at Tottenham and in the future who knows where we will be?” said Pochettino.
“But he enjoys Tottenham, he comes from the academy, he identifies with the club. Only football knows the future.
“For me, he’s a player who likes scoring, he loves the Tottenham shirt and was excited when he saw Totti’s farewell in Rome and that then created extra motivation.
“He was so emotional when he saw the last game of Totti for Roma, only playing at one club, maybe Harry Kane can have the same career as Totti.”
Liverpool’s deadline-day signing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain could be in line for his first Champions League start for the club after impressing manager Jurgen Klopp.
The England international has featured in eight matches since his £35m arrival from Arsenal but has made only one start, failing to impress in the Carabao Cup exit at Leicester.
However, he enjoyed an encouraging late cameo from the bench against Manchester United at the weekend and that could be enough to get him a place in the team against Maribor.
“I don’t know about the lineup. He is my mind...if it is about a start you will see tomorrow,” said Klopp.
“Since Alex came in he has been twice with the national team, there have been a lot of games with no training and so his start has been interrupted.
“He is a big signing for us, obviously, but a fast player like him needs the circumstances to perform so he needed time.
“So far it has been okay but not what we know he is able to do. But then Saturday ‘Bang!’. Comes on, uses his speed, really spot on, it was a very nice sign. I loved to see it.”