Pochettino hails Kane's maturity

Mauricio Pochettino saluted Harry Kane for his maturity, revealing that the in-form striker has taken the news of Real Madrid's reported interest in him "very naturally".

Kane has been in lethal form this season, scoring 15 goals in all competitions for club and country, with some believing he has already developed into a world class striker.

Five of those goals have come for Spurs in the Champions League, with Kane scoring twice against Borussia Dortmund and a hat-trick away to APOEL.

Up next in that competition is a trip to Real Madrid on Tuesday, with Kane set to line up against one of the club's thought to be interested in prising him away from Spurs.

And Pochettino believes he has handled such speculation very well, while he also has no doubts that Kane sees his long-term future at Spurs.

"He takes it [the rumours] very, very, very naturally," Pochettino told AS.

"Harry is a boy with a great maturity, with things very clear to him. His dream is to do something big with Tottenham, a club that he's a fan of.

"That important teams recognise his work and that comes out in the media, the only thing that does is encourage him to continue in the form of that time.

"He is an exceptional person, a humble guy with great values in life and as a human, and it gives me great pleasure to train a player like that because it makes my life much easier."

Today's schedule:

Travel to Madrid
Press conference
Training at Bernabéu#COYS pic.twitter.com/Yf2DTzJpB3

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) 16 October 2017

If Kane is the best-regarded English player at the moment, then Dele Alli – his Spurs team-mate – is probably not too far behind.

And Pochettino sees no reason why Alli cannot reach a similar level to Kane, who has been nominated for this year's Ballon d'Or.

He added: "Why not? It's true that he's in another moment of his career [to Kane] and is completely different, but Dele has potential, has that capacity and that energy, that aura that does not leave you feeling indifferent.

"Hopefully, let's hope [that he fulfils his potential]. He is still young and still has to improve and learn many things.

"We are trying to provide him with the best tools so that he can stabilise in the areas where it is difficult to stay as solid."