Dimitar Berbatov believes that Son Heung-min "has been even better than Harry Kane" at a time when Tottenham's South Korean star has been overlooked for a major end of season award.
Son ended the campaign with a share of the Premier League Golden Boot with Mohamed Salah, both scoring 23 goals in the league but the Spurs attacker managed it without a single penalty to his name. However, inexplicably Son was not named among the nominees for the PFA Player of the Year Award on Wednesday.
His team-mate Kane did get named among those nominees, which include Liverpool's Salah, Sadio Mane and Virgil Van Dijk, Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne and Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo. Speaking ahead of the release of the nominations, voted for by the players, Berbatov made it clear what he thought about Son's season.
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"Son has been even better than Kane this season. Sometimes we overlook the player next to the star, but Son has produced unbelievable moments and goals. We need to give Son credit too for what he is doing. I'm so happy that he is stepping out of Kane's shadow. He has to be in the team of the season," former Spurs striker Berbatov said in an interview for Betfair.
"I always go back to me and Robbie Keane when we were at Spurs - that was a great partnership - and now I'm so happy that they have Kane and Son. You can see there is no selfishness there, they both play for the team and spur each other on to greater achievements.
"For a great partnership to work, selfishness can't be in the equation, you have to be selfless when you play with a partner up front. You need to give him the ball when he is in a better position, there can be no jealousy and you want him to do well. He will return the favour and make you look good. This is what we are seeing now at Spurs with Kane and Son, just like was with me and Keano."
Berbatov does not believe that Kane will be looking to leave again this summer after the speculation surrounding him last year.
"Of course, there are going to be questions around Harry Kane's future following last summer's saga. Erling Haaland has gone to Manchester City, so will Kane go to Man United? They aren't playing Champions League football, so I don't see the point of the move for Kane," said the Bulgarian.
"He will want to play Champions League football. Where else would he go? Outside of England? I don't think so. My guess is, that there will be rumours flying around, and some interest from clubs, but he will stay at Spurs."
Berbatov is expecting big thing from Tottenham next season after a promising first seven months under Antonio Conte, in which the team finished fourth in the Premier League and qualified for Champions League football next season.
"I was so pleased to see Spurs qualify for the Champions League. I hope they can take the next step under Antonio Conte, keep improving and ultimately win a trophy. He is instilling discipline, tactical awareness and control in the team. For the moment, he is the guy to take Spurs forward," he said.
"On paper, Spurs have a way better squad now than they had when I was there and we won the League Cup in 2008, but they are yet to win anything since then. They had a great opportunity in the Champions League final in 2019, but they didn't win it. I hope that with Conte, a serial winner, they will get another trophy sooner rather than later.
"The Champions League will not be a distraction for them next season. As a player, you think: "I am playing in the Champions League, I am going to be playing against the best players and best teams. That gives you the lift you need to produce even more quality. It gives you more adrenalin to play football. They will be playing a lot of games but as a player you want that. You're doing what you love, it doesn't get better than that."
