Harry Kane and Eric Cantona have something in common, according to his old Man Utd teammate

Tottenham striker Harry Kane provides a similar impact on the north London club to the one Eric Cantona had at Manchester United, according to Lee Sharpe.

Kane has grown from a Spurs academy product to one of the best strikers in Europe since breaking into the first team in 2014/15.

Did Man Utd miss their chance with Kane? Five things to know…

• Kane became a permanent member of Tottenham’s first team in 2014/15 .
• The English striker scored 31 goals in 51 games, leading to links of a move to Man Utd.
• But he opted to stay put, improving his total Spurs tally to 171 goals in 263 games.
• Former Man Utd winger Sharpe believes the Red Devils should have done all they could to sign Kane.
• He went on to compare Kane to United legend Cantona due to the game-changing impact he can have.

The Englishman has so far scored 171 goals in 263 games for Tottenham and has been a key figure in their progress over the past few seasons – despite a poor start to the 2019/20 campaign.

After his breakthrough season, in which he scored 31 goals in 51 games, Kane was being linked with a move to Man Utd, though Spurs chairman Daniel Levy fought hard to keep his striker.

But former United winger Sharpe believes the Red Devils should have done all they could to sign Kane when his price was lower.

Speaking exclusively to MetaRatings, Sharpe said: “If they could have got Harry Kane for £40million, they certainly should have offered the money and he certainly would have scored the goals.

“He does go quiet in games, a bit like Cantona for us back in the day; he went quiet in games for 70-85 minutes at times. But when times got tough, he would invariably come in with a goal from nowhere and won us games 1-0 a lot of times.

“That’s what they’re paid to do, and that’s why they’re such special players.”

Despite Spurs’ poor start to the 2019/20 season which continued with a 3-0 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday, Kane has managed seven goals in 10 games across all competitions so far – more than any Man Utd player.

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Ferdinand urges Kane to think about future

Although Spurs and Kane have grown over the past five seasons, the club remain without a trophy since 2008 – when they won the League Cup.

Under Pochettino they have reached the League Cup final and a Champions League final, while also managing a runners-up finish in the Premier League but are still waiting to rubber stamp their progress with silverware.

And former Man Utd defender Rio Ferdinand believes Kane needs to think about his future, and consider whether he wants to win trophies or be a one-club man.

“It leads me to look at Harry Kane,” he told BT Sport ahead of Tottenham’s 7-2 thrashing against Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

“What are you in the game for? Are you in the game to be a one club man or to win trophies? Do Spurs look like a team capable of winning trophies?

“I don’t think so. They were a better team a couple of years ago.

“Leeds is a similar example, I was maybe a year or two younger but I was in a team at a Champions League semi-final, nearly won the league, but I thought I had the opportunity to go.

“I made a very quick decision to go and win trophies. Harry Kane is probably thinking about it and having those questions. They need answering soon.

“He’s 26 and you only have a small window of opportunity, they come and go very quickly.”