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December 25, 2017

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Kane has Messi tally in sight

Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane could end 2017 as the top calendar year goalscorer in Europe after hitting his seventh hat-trick of the year in Saturday鈥檚 3-0 win at Burnley.

His manager Mauricio Pochettino believes he can not only reach that goal but has the capacity to get even better.

Kane鈥檚 triple means he has now scored 53 goals in all competitive games for club and country this year, leaving him just a goal behind Barcelona鈥檚 Argentine master Lionel Messi.

The Englishman is level with Bayern Munich鈥檚 Robert Lewandowski, Real Madrid鈥檚 Cristiano Ronaldo and Paris Saint-Germain鈥檚 Edinson Cavani.

Unlike any of his rivals for the record, however, Kane still has a game left to play this year 鈥 a home game against Southampton on December 26.

Kane鈥檚 goals at Turf Moor also took his English Premier League calendar year tally to 36, equalling Alan Shearer鈥檚 record from 1995.

鈥淗e is amazing, a fantastic player, he needs one more to be above Alan, we will see in the next game. But it is fantastic for him, 鈥 said Pochettino.

鈥淚t鈥檚 difficult to find words to describe Harry Kane. Even during my time at Spurs I鈥檓 surprised by him. The hat-trick is nice for him but we could have scored more than three. I鈥檓 worried when you don鈥檛 create chances though,鈥 he added.

Pochettino said Kane鈥檚 tally was just reward for the effort he has put into his game.

鈥淒uring my three and a half years with Tottenham, he always surprises me 鈥 not only with goals but his contribution, with his attitude, professional ethic, how he works across the pitch, he is a massive example for everyone.鈥.

Asked whether the 24-year-old could go on to beat Shearer鈥檚 career record of 260 EPL goals, Pochettino noted the consistency the former Newcastle United and Blackburn Rovers striker showed throughout his career but said Kane had the quality to produce something similar.

鈥淲e hope for Tottenham and for him and I wish that every season (year) he will score 50 or more,鈥 he said.


 

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