‘One of the best I’ve had’ – Conte reveals if he would have Salah over Kane at Spurs

Antonio Conte has claimed he would not swap Harry Kane for Mohamed Salah, insisting that he realises how good the Tottenham striker is the more he watches him train.

Kane edged out Salah in the race for the Golden Boot last season and also picked up the Playmaker Award for registering the most assists despite Tottenham stumbling to a seventh-place finish.

However, while Salah is having an exceptional season in front of goal, with 15 strikes to his name so far this campaign, the Spurs star has only found the back of the net once in the Premier League.

Conte admitted that the 28-year-old’s lack of goals this season is ‘strange’ but insisted all strikers go through such spells in their careers.

When asked about Kane’s lack of goals this season in comparison to last campaign, the Tottenham boss told Football.London: “It’s very strange, no? It’s very strange.

“If you compare what he did in the past, this is very strange, but also in the past, in my experience, before as a player and then as a coach, it happens.

“I played with important strikers who, for a long period, didn’t score, but my judgement about them didn’t change.

“I wanted to have them in my team also if they don’t score, because if you have Harry Kane in your team, you feel stronger, for sure.”

Conte also insisted that he would not swap Kane for Salah and that the Tottenham man has only gone up in his estimations since he took over at the North London club a month and a half ago.

When asked about Kane and Salah, the 52-year-old said: “Harry is a world-class striker. Every day that I train him I understand very well that he’s a world-class striker.

“He’s one of the best I’ve had the pleasure to train. He’s amazing. I like to have him in my team.

“For sure Jurgen likes to have Mo Salah, but I like to have Harry in my team. He’s an important player for us and my expectation is very high and to play an important game against Liverpool.”

Spurs Web Opinion

On current form, I believe Salah is the best player in world football. So, it certainly will not be easy for the Spurs backline to keep him quiet on Sunday.

However, the game also represents a huge opportunity for Harry Kane to kickstart his season in front of goal.

If he finds the back of the net on Sunday helps Spurs get a result, that will do his confidence a world of good.

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