Kane: I’m up there with best in world

HARRY KANE says he is happy to be labelled one of the best strikers in the world by his manager Mauricio Pochettino and believes his vital statistics back up the claim.

The Tottenham striker netted his third hat-trick in nine games and took his Premier League tally for the season to 17 goals in the 4-0 victory over Stoke on Sunday.

Kane is the first Tottenham player to score 20 goals in all competitions for three successive seasons since Jimmy Greaves in the late 1960s.

Over the course of this season and the past two Premier League campaigns, since he became a regular starter, Kane has netted 63 league goals – more than any other player. In Europe, Antoine Griezmann has scored 10 fewer La Liga goals over the same period, and only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have significantly better records.

So, according to Kane, it is not a big surprise that Pochettino rates him as one of the best in the world.

“I feel that if you look at my stats, my goals, then I’m up there,” said Kane. “If you guys want to print that (I’m one of the best in the world), I’m more than happy to have that. I’ve just got to keep doing what I’m doing.”

Asked if he believed he had proved the sceptics wrong, Kane replied: “Yeah, that motivates me.”

Meanwhile, Mark Hughes is ready to drastically shake up his Stoke squad this summer, with record £18.3m signing Giannelli Imbula and Bojan set to be highprofile casualties.

Hughes will make significant changes as he attempts to bring down the average age of his squad and is prepared to offload a number of fringe players.

Former Porto midfielder Imbula has failed to impress, while Stoke will listen to offers for Bojan, who joined Mainz on loan last month.

Wilfried Bony will return to Manchester City after a difficult loan spell in which he has scored just two league goals. Ibrahim Afellay, Stephen Ireland and Shay Given are out of contract this summer, while Philipp Wollscheid, Marc Muniesa and Joselu could also be sold. (© Daily Telegraph, London)