Paul Merson has claimed that Harry Kane should be in the conversation over the best players in world football at the moment because of his versatility as an attacker.
Kane has been playing a slightly deeper role than in previous seasons this campaign, which has allowed his vision and passing to come to the fore.
Not only is the Tottenham star sitting on top of the Premier League’s assist charts but he is also continuing to find the back of the net with regularity.
Merson claimed that there is simply no one in world football who can play both as a number 10 and a number 9 as well as Kane does.
Kane arguably had his quietest game of the season yesterday at Chelsea with Jose Mourinho’s side having few opportunities to try and create in the final third.
The pundit told Sky Sports: “I just struggle with words to describe him.
“He is not far off the best player in the world. And this is the reason: you have got players like Ian Wright, Alan Shearer, Sergio Aguero, Robbie Fowler, Andy Cole, Les Ferdinand, Jamie Vardy. All top, top drawer centre-forwards.
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“Harry Kane is one of them, and then Harry Kane goes and plays where Kevin De Bruyne plays, where Eric Cantona played, where Dennis Bergkamp played, and he does it just as well.
“Name me one player in the world who can be a No 9, score goals, hold the ball up, be strong, and then go and play No 10, and put 60-yard balls through the eye of a needle, or run at the ball with pace with defenders all around you before picking out a ball to assist.
“There’s nobody in the world like him. There’s no other player in the world who can be as good as a No 9, and as good as a No 10. I don’t think there ever has. Lionel Messi cannot go up front, hold the ball up, bring people into play, and then score bundles of goals, and then go and play No 10 in the same game. He’s a No 10. Kane can do both.”
The former Arsenal man shared the dressing room with some world-class players during his hay day but he insisted that none of them were able to adapt to different roles as easy as Kane.
Merson added: “I played with Dennis Bergkamp, one of the best in the world at what he did; he could not go up front and do what Kane does, hold the ball up and score bundles of goals. I played with Teddy Sheringham, he could not do both.
“Alan Shearer, Ian Wright, unbelievable centre-forwards – but you could not say to them: ‘For the next three weeks I want you to play No 10 and thread the ball through the eye of a needle.’
“I cannot believe what I see with Kane. Some of the passes, crosses, they are Kevin De Bruyne! Harry Kane has started to do what Kevin De Bruyne does!”
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