Jermain Defoe ended his last match as a Tottenham Hotspur player carried aloft the shoulders of team-mates Emmanuel Adebayor and Jan Vertonghen. It was February 2014, and they had just beatenEverton 1-0the veteran's impending transfer to Toronto in Major League Soccer had been common knowledge for a couple of weeks by then.Defoe's second spell in north London had been as challenging as his first, the striker again having to deal with fluctuating match time as different managers switched things up and themselves were changed. Nevertheless, he had remained a productive finisher during a largely healthy period for the club, just as popular with fans as he had been prior to his short spell with Portsmouth.Within months of Defoe's departure, the emergence of a player who is redefining what it means to be a modern Tottenham great gained serious momentum. Harry Kane's three goals late in that campaign kick-started a fledgling career that, just over two years later, has already seen him reach the milestone of 50 Premier League strikes:Kane will attempt to swiftly follow that match-sealing effort in Spurs' 4-0 win over Stoke City when the Lilywhites face Defoe and his current Sunderland outfit on Sunday (the opponent for his first league goal,as it happens).The latter's achievements in N17 cannot be taken away from him. His status as one of the more memorable Spurs players of recent times is well deserved.Kane's rise to prominence has been so impressive, though, individually and within the team, that the standards of what is expected at Tottenham have been raised. In his case, especially in terms of strikers (looking further afield in terms of English football and other categories is a whole other matter).Comparing his body of work so far to the standouts of the not-so-distant past, and the club's unarguable greats, where does Kane stand on the path to possibly becoming a Spurs legend'The NumbersAnalysing and contrasting players of different eras is tricky.There are too many variables between seasons, let alone decades, to accurately say someone is better or more important than the other. Such debates can be entertaining, but no one can prove their opinion as fact.Kane warrants discussion because his contributions to the Tottenham cause have already statistically bettered (or are close to doing so) those of some predecessors in the attacking lineage. Men regarded as stars of their respective eras who have or will almost certainly join the club's Hall of Fame one day.The 23-year-old's 50 league goals in 90 Premier League appearancesplus 14 more in cup competitionis a strong return for a player in an aspiring team, rather than a genuine top-level one. Great centre-forwards will thrive just about anywhere, but there are different challenges to playing in a team not boosted by tangible success.In comparison, playing in teams of similar quality, Defoe did not reach the half-century mark in the competition until August 2009, his sixth season with the club and after his brief interlude at Portsmouth. The Englishman's peer and rival for starts during that era, Robbie Keane (currently in the MLS with Los Angeles Galaxy), took until March 2006, his fourth campaign.Again, different circumstances mean the journey toward these individual tallies cannot be regarded as a straight shootout. Being a team game, there is much more besides in which to measure the respective player's efforts in any given game.As an academy product, Kane's progression came at a different rate, too. There was more leeway for him to find his feet, whereas Keane and Defoe were bought to deliver immediately.His Spurs Premier League debut came away at Cardiff City in August 2013 (he had played four times on loan at Norwich City). Seeing as he did not start featuring regularly in the division until January, that mid-winter point seems a fair one to regard his integration into the first-team proper.Kane getting to the aforementioned landmark as quickly as he has since is close to extraordinary. Certainly in an English football climate where homegrown strikers have difficulty earning development-conducive opportunities.The 50-goal mark in all competitions arrived with his equaliser in the FA Cup third round match with Leicester City in January. The league version might have come sooner had manager Mauricio Pochettino started him earlier in 2014-15, or if the frontman had not started as slowly last season.Defoe and Keane eventually fired their way into Tottenham's top-10 all-time top scorers, breaking the 100-goal barrier.Even then, neither came within 100 goals of matching the leading man Jimmy Greaves' sensational 266 struck in a nine-year period. They were also some length short of the next man on the list:Bobby Smith, the double-winner who struck 208 times.Kane is a way off matching Defoe and Keane, let alone getting near Greaves'and Smith's records. But if he maintains his current rate, he could come as close as any to troubling those longstanding numbers.AchievementsWhile the nature of Keane's exit to Liverpool in 2008not so enforced like the out-of-favour Defoe's switch to Pompey earlier that year essentially wastarnished his reputation somewhat, the reasons why they are so well regarded are still largely there.Both were bright spots in darker periods of uncertainty for Tottenham in the immediate year or two following their arrival. They had a big influence on the team improving, regaining European football and becoming a legitimate top-four contender. After their respective initial departures, they returned to help the club out of a jam and into a more prominent position once again.It is not the same as helping the team to the league-and-cup double like Smith did in 1960-61. Nor is it quite on par with Greaves leading them through to subsequent successes in that decade.But after leaner preceding years, Defoe and Keane were big reasons why Spurs became competitive players in the upper echelon of the English game again (not to mention having roles in the 2008 League Cup success).Kane has emerged in an era that is partly benefiting from what they contributed to. Yet, what he has led the way in shaping himself is looking like being even greater.In terms of the league, his talismanic performances were huge in Spurs' first major title challenge in decades last season, one in which he also won the Golden Boot (the first from the club to do so since Teddy Sheringham in 1992-93).The third-place finish was ultimately disappointing, but still the best since over 10 years before Keane and Defoe arrived in north London. Those two had their moments in big games that can shape such heady runs, but neither were ever as consistent as Kane has already proved in them (particularly in local derbies).It took the Pochettino team he is part of a lot less longer to get in the Champions League, too. That campaign started in disappointing fashion with defeat to Monaco on Wednesday, but the side's gradually improving, unbeaten league start suggests there is scope for them to get back to the levels of 2015-16.Moving forward, much less than that from anyone who joins or follows Kane may be viewed more harshly by comparison.LongevityKane plans to remain at the club for a long time yet. All being well, he has expressed hope to spend the rest of his career with Tottenham."At the moment, we're an excited group of young players with a great manager, great training ground and a new stadium coming too," he toldformer Spur and current Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp recently, adding "I'd love to stay here for the rest of my career."A lot can change in football. If Kane is still a regular fixture for Spurs by the time he is 30, let alone getting closer toward 40, he will have done extremely well.For his part, Defoe says he was sure when he was still at Spurs his young team-mate would one day come good."When I was there he played a couple of cup games here and there, but he was always someone I looked out for and thought he could do well and score goals in the Premier League," the striker told ChronicleLive's James Hunter in an entertaining retelling of his first encounters with the younger Kane."I thought it would be just a matter of time before he came through and scored goals."Kane has done just that, and is already in good company with the likes of Defoe, Keane and Sheringham. It is exciting to wonder just how far he can go.His tough summer with England at Euro 2016 and Tottenham's teething problems tactically early on this season have been a reminder of the setbacks and issues he will need to continue to overcome at times.Whether or not he achieves true legend status at Spurswith the trophies, statistics and/or longevity that inform ithe has carved out a little slice of modern history, creating memories contemporary fans will not soon forget.
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