Former Tottenham and England forward Jermain Defoe insists it is difficult to separate Luis Suarez and Harry Kane's footballing ability.
Defoe, who scored over 100 Premier League goals across stints for West Ham, Spurs, Portsmouth and Sunderland, and was at White Hart Line while Kane progressed through Spurs' youth ranks, believes that a ballot of 10 ex-players would see the two strikers unable to be separated.
"If there were say, 10 ex-players, I think it’d be 50-50," said Defoe, speaking on Rio Ferdinand’s FIVE YouTube channel. "Forget the Liverpool to Barcelona [controversy with Luis Suarez], all that sorts of stuff. Just talking about them as players. Both goalscorers, Harry’s [Kane] got more to his game [than Suarez].
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"Talk about Premier League, okay both of them are legends of the Premier League, no matter how many goals they have scored. You talk about major tournaments, going to a World Cup, bring home a Golden Boot. So, I think if you ask 10 players, it’s 50-50”
Suarez made the move to Anfield under former Reds boss Kenny Dalglish in January 2011, the same day Kop hero Fernando Torres departed for Chelsea, and lit the Premier League up during his three-and-a-half years in England. Under Dalglish's successor, Brendan Rodgers, the Uruguayan formed a ruthless trio with Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge in 2013-14 as he fired 31 Premier League goals and helped the Reds to an impressive second-place finish in the league.
Such form saw Suarez poached by Spanish giants Barcelona in the summer of 2014 for a fee of £75m. The forward would cap off a remarkable first season in Spain as he scored in the 2015 Champions League final win over Juventus to secure a historic treble for Luis Enrique's side. He would win four La Liga titles during his time at the Camp Nou, before adding a fifth with Atletico Madrid in 2021, scoring 198 goals in the process.
But despite establishing himself as one of the best finishers of his generation while at the La Liga giants, Defoe believes Kane would have been able to match the Uruguayan's phenomenal feats if he was playing alongside superstars like Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr.
“Okay, put Harry Kane in that Barcelona team," added Defoe. "Take Suarez out of that Barcelona team. Does he score more goals? Exactly!
"They’re both unbelievable. See Harry Kane, I could play with someone like Harry, because he’s got so much more to his game. If I played with Harry, he could drop into a 10 position. Suarez isn’t able to do that. Harry has more to his game.”
Last weekend Kane accomplished the latest landmark of a wonderful career as he became Tottenham's outright all-time top goalscorer and edged ahead of the legendary Jimmy Greaves, with 267 goals. The England captain also moved to 200 Premier League goals and is now just 60 behind Alan Shearer's record.
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