STEVE PERRYMAN: Harry Kane is a fantastic player, but when he breaks the all-time Tottenham goalscoring record, he will be overtaking a 'genius' in Jimmy Greaves, even though the England captain deserves all the praise he receives.

 

STEVE PERRYMAN: Harry Kane is a fantastic player, but Jimmy Greaves was a genius who was the closest thing we've had to Lionel Messi... though the England captain will deserve all the praise he receives for breaking Tottenham's all-time scoring record.

According to Steve Perryman, Harry Kane will surpass a genius in Jimmy Greaves.

Kane only needs one goal to dethrone Greaves, who played with Greaves for six months in North London as Tottenham's record goal-scorer.

Harry Kane may become Tottenham's all-time leading scorer on Sunday or later this month.

Harry is an excellent payer, hard worker, and finisher. But Jimmy Greaves, the man whose record he is breaking, was a genius.

I don’t use the word lightly nor this comparison: I think Jimmy is the closest thing we’ve had to Lionel Messi. The style, the panache, the finishing: I should be saying Messi was close to being Jim, he was that good.

Some generations may not realise how much better he was than everyone else because he missed the biggest game of his life, the 1966 World Cup final. As a result, how extraordinary Harry's achievement in surpassing him is.

When Jimmy played, it felt like the gunslinger had arrived in town. Fans nowadays seem to enjoy it when a big star name, such as Harry, misses a shot and will cheer their misfortune. Maybe times were different or maybe Jimmy was just so good people just came to see him.

 Harry Kane is one goal away from becoming Tottenham's all-time leading scorer.

When Harry Kane breaks Jimmy Greaves' Tottenham goal-scoring record, he will be overtaking a genius, according to Steve Perryman.

You had the impression that if you played for Spurs at Ipswich, they would be desperate for their team to win, but if Jimmy delivered a goal like the ones you had seen on TV, you would be almost happy, even as an opposing fan.

When I first joined the Spurs, I spent six months playing with Jimmy. One of his most famous goals was scored against Newcastle.

They might have given me a hand these days, not that I deserved it. Bobby Moncur was coming at us, and I got my left foot under the ball, which bounced out of the tackle and into Jimmy's path on the halfway line.

It appeared that I had passed it to him, which I regret. He was in a lot of space before sprinting half the length of the field. He let the defender catch up to him at the last second, cut inside, and finished.

A lovely goal, but even more memorable for me as a 17-year-old because Jimmy jogged back and ruffled my hair in appreciation. Wow! That was the team's introduction.

Harry deserves all of the accolades he receives because his focus and professionalism off the field have helped him become the legend he is today.

Alex Inglethorpe, the academy director at Liverpool and my reserve centre forward at Watford, was a youth team coach at Spurs. He worked with Harry and claims he's never met anyone so competitive.

You can't tell from his expression: he's calm. He is, however, competitive with himself. And it was his competitive nature that drove him to practise, practise, practise.

Kane scores his 266th goal for Tottenham against Fulham, tying him with Jimmy Greaves' record.

Kane now has his sights set on Alan Shearer's all-time Premier League goal total of 260. 

Alex used to be very particular about collecting all of the balls after practise. They were, however, always two balls short. It irritated him because he suspected the players were keeping them hidden. Then, in the afternoon, he'd look out his office window and see Harry and his team practising skills with the balls they'd hidden.

And it's not as if you want to go out there and yell at them because that's what you want them to do. That's what Harry has always done: he's just kept getting better season after season until he's even surpassed Jimmy's record.