"I would put him on the same level as Robin van Persie" - Ex-Arsenal defender William Gallas makes bold claim on 'clever' Premier League striker

Former Arsenal defender William Gallas has compared Tottenham Hotspur frontman Harry Kane to Premier League legend Robin van Persie.

Kane has become a talisman for Spurs over the years, scoring 254 goals in 395 appearances.

The English striker has finished as the Premier League's top goalscorer on three occasions and Gallas has lauded the goalscoring potency of the forward.

He was interviewed by Genting Casino, where he began by talking about the talent possessed by Kane:

"He doesn't always stay in front, which for the centre back can be a little difficult, because he drops deeper to get the ball, and with his technique he can find his teammates. Then when he's in the box he's a danger, because you never know which way he will go, right, left foot, he’s so strong with both feet, and his head."

Gallas then claimed that Kane is on the same level as former Arsenal and Manchester United hitman Van Persie:

"So I would put him on the same level as Robin van Persie."

The former Chelsea defender then claimed that Blues hero Didier Drogba is a level above both Kane and Van Persie:

"Didier Drogba was a beast, he scored in the Champions League final, and many other finals, so that's why he is on top. Robin was not too far away as well, his quality was different, but to play and win the Champions League is something different than to win the Premier League."

Van Persie became a hit at both Arsenal and Manchester United during his time in the Premier League.

He scored 132 goals in 278 appearances for the Gunners and 58 goals in 105 appearances for the Red Devils.

The Dutch legend didn't win the Premier League title until moving to United from Arsenal in 2012 for £27.6 million.

Meanwhile, Drogba was a menace for Chelsea during his time at Stamford Bridge, finding the net 164 times in 381 appearances.

The Ivorian scored a vital equalizer in the Blues' Champions League final win over Bayern Munich in 2012 before netting the winning penalty in a tense shootout.

Kane will be looking to cause havoc for Arsenal this weekend

Arsenal take on Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, October 1 and Kane will be eager to continue his impressive tally against the Gunners.

The English striker has bagged seven goals in 17 appearances against Spurs' north London rivals.

The two London sides are unbeaten in the Premier League with the Gunners sitting top, one point ahead of Spurs.

It was Tottenham who were 3-0 victors the last time the north London derby was played out, with Kane on the scoresheet twice.

About the author

Matthew is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who has been covering news, rumors and match reports for close to 3 years. Learning creative writing from University of Essex, he combined his skills and passion for football take up writing for the sport professionally.

Matthew always strives to go beyond a story and offer unique and lesser-known insights, while maintaining an unbiased tone in his articles. His reporting exploits at the company have helped him gain a humungous readership of 25 million, with one of his articles raking in a whopping 724,000 reads.

A Manchester United fan since childhood, Matthew admired Sir Alex Ferguson for his loyalty and brave coaching style. His favorite footballer is Thierry Henry, believing the Frenchman to be uniquely talented and charismatic. An ardent Three Lions fan, England's penalty shootout win over Colombia in 2018 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment of all time, and he believes that Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe will have a Ballon d’Or duopoly after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

He also follows his local EFL League Two clubs AFC Wimbledon and Sutton United, and spends his free time watching and writing about professional wrestling. He also likes to work out, watch movies and go for night outs.

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Edited by Matthew Guyett