(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Harry Kane could become as emblematic a player for Tottenham Hotspur as Francesco Totti was for Roma, his manager Mauricio Pochettino said yesterday. The 24-year-old England striker — who has been with Tottenham since 2009 — established a new Premier League record of goals in a calendar year with a hat-trick against Southampton earlier this week to move to 39 in 2017.
That took him past Alan Shearer's previous record of 36 goals in a year set in 1995. Kane has a total of 56 goals for club and country this year, making him the highest scorer in Europe in 2017, and Shearer thinks he could remain with Tottenham for the rest of his career.
Totti did likewise in the Italian capital, becoming known as ‘The Eighth King of Rome' as he spent the whole of his professional career with Roma, totting up over 600 appearances and only retiring aged 40 at the end of last season.
'I think Alan Shearer knows better than me, because he's English and knows the mentality of the country, said Pochettino, Tottenham's Argentine coach. 'Maybe he said that because maybe it's possible. Maybe Harry Kane with his mentality can be the same kind of player for Tottenham as Francesco Totti was for Roma. And for us, our fans and everyone, Harry is a fantastic player, a great mentality and a fantastic professional. So yes, why not, why not?
Pochettino, who admitted Kane is a doubt because of a heavy cold for their away match at bottom side Swansea City on Tuesday, said he couldn't put a price on the 23-times capped striker's head.
'I think Harry doesn't have a price, because we want him here. He's priceless, there is no price, said Pochettino. 'We can talk about many things, but at the end it's talk for talk, because it's impossible to put a price on him.
'He's not suddenly become a superstar because of achieving an amazing record. Nothing has changed, he was a superstar three years ago, one year ago, six months ago and one week ago. We've always treated him like a superstar.
However, Pochettino admits with Liverpool splashing out £75mn ($100mn) for Southampton's Virgil van Dijk — a world record for a defender — earlier this week sometimes it is impossible to turn down offers. 'We need to talk about reality, said Pochettino, whose side are fifth in the table, an enormous 21 points behind leaders Manchester City. 'Reality is that Liverpool offers or pays £75mn for Virgil van Dijk. If you want a player, a club asks a price and you pay; that's it. That's the reality of Van Dijk. We cannot guess or create fantasy around different players.
Allardyce targets striker
in transfer window
Everton manager Sam Allardyce says he is in the market for a striker in the January transfer window. The Merseyside outfit sold Romelu Lukaku over the summer and have struggled recently to score this season with their last two games ending 0-0.
Reports this week suggested the club is interested in Besiktas striker Cenk Tosun. And when asked yesterday about being linked with the 26-year-old Turkey international, Allardyce said: 'Him and many others, because we need a frontman if we can find one. We would be actively looking for a frontman in this window because I need more goals in the side than we have at the moment if we are to just maintain our position.
'As we can all see, we've started to struggle to create chances and score goals in recent matches, so it's still one of the major problems we have at the club. We've got more penalties than anybody else in the Premier League, which has contributed to a few points. That won't always happen.
'So we need to strengthen in our goalscoring areas, and that's, for me, new players. Players already here, like Sandro (Ramirez), haven't picked up the pace of the Premier League — he hasn't been able to show what he showed in Spain.
'I think Oumar (Niasse), while he has scored, hasn't made a regular place in the Everton side. And young (Dominic) Calvert-Lewin is battling away. I think he's got a bright future, but I don't think we can rely on him week in and week out at the moment.
Sandro has not scored a league goal since joining from Malaga in July, while Niasse and Calvert-Lewin have netted five and three respectively this season. Ninth-placed Everton's current top scorer is Wayne Rooney, who has netted 10 times in the league.
The 32-year-old missed the goalless draws against Chelsea last Saturday and at West Brom on Boxing Day due to illness but has recovered in time for today's trip to Bournemouth, which Everton go into having played six league games so far under Allardyce and not lost one of them.
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