MATCH-DAY three of the Champions League group stage sees Harry Kane lead Tottenham to holders Real Madrid and the forward will be on a mission.
Kane’s primary objective will be getting a result for Spurs which would put them in pole position to qualify from a tough group for the knockout stage. On top of that, though, the England international will be desperate to prove his quality at the highest level of club football against a side he has been linked with in the past.
And our friends at Football Whispers look at how Kane might fit in if those Real Madridtransfer rumours ever came to be.
Thirteen goals in September made it the most prolific month of Kane’s career – numbers which put the 24-year-old on a par with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
But still the debate rages as to whether Kane is in the world-class category. In 2017 he has 43 goals in all competitions – more than a number of Premier League sides and as many as Ronaldo has managed.
There is, on paper at least, little to differentiate. But the real question is how Kane would fit into Real’s forward line. Zinedine Zidane’s BBC frontline of Benzema, Bale and Cristiano leaves little room for anyone else, but there are question marks against all of them.
The No9 role inhabited by Benzema would be the most natural fit for Kane. The Frenchman is not the most prolific forward – partially due to Ronaldo dominating the front line – but he is a favourite of president Florentino Perez.
Benzema signed a new four-year contract September and that suggests the former Lyon man, even at 29, isn’t going anywhere fast. However, Zidane does not have an experience back-up for Benzema after selling Alvaro Morata to Chelsea in the summer. The Spaniard’s departure has left 20-year-old Borja Mayoral as the natural deputy to Benzema. He scored two Bundesliga goals on loan at Wolfsburg last season but was only entrusted with three starts.
This season Mayoral made one start in La Liga, at Real Sociedad, and marked it with a goal in a 3-1 win. But he is hardly a name to strike fear into opponents of a higher calibre and Zidane recognises that. The Real coach has tinkered with his system for several games and set Los Blancos up with two forwards on six occasions already.
On those occasions Zidane has paired two of Benzema, Bale and Ronaldo together. But Kane would enable the former World Cup winner to start with two out-and-out forwards.
Another alternative would be to move the Tottenham man into a more withdrawn role.
It is not Kane’s natural game to play off of another forward and at Spurs he has almost exclusively played as a lone striker since breaking into the side under Mauricio Pochettino.
But as well as the goals, he is an intelligent player who links well with those around him. It is an underrated part of his game.
Kane’s relationship with Christian Eriksen, for example, has been central to him finding the back of the net as regularly as he has. This season Kane has created seven chances for his team-mates.
Chelsea forward Morata has made six while Romelu Lukaku has 12 and Sergio Aguero 14. Benzema, for context, has supplied nine.
Playing Kane in a withdrawn role would mean moving him away from goal and, therefore, compromising his ability to find the back of the net time and time again.
That feels like a waste.
But if Real can’t find figure out a way to crowbar Kane into their side, Spurs fans and Pochettino won’t mind him remaining one of their own.
From The Sun
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