I saw Harry Kane at the Tottenham academy and warned the club how good he would be compared to Robbie Fowler and Alan Shearer.

Brad Friedel recalled how training with young Harry Kane convinced Tottenham he would become a superstar.

The former American goalkeeper spent 18 years playing in England before hanging up his gloves with Spurs in 2015, meaning he and Kane were technically teammates.

While studying for his coaching badges, Friedel was in north London at the same time as Kane as he tried to break into the first team.

After mixed loan spells with Leyton Orient, Norwich and Leicester, the forward faced an uncertain future with Tottenham as he was unable to break into the starting eleven.

But speaking on talkSPORT Drive, Friedel told the story of how he may have boosted Kane's hopes of becoming a first-team starter for Spurs.

In response to Jason Cundy calling him the best No. 9 in the world, Friedel said: “I agree.

“When I was finishing at Tottenham and I was finishing my coaching badges (my UEFA B, UEFA A and my professional licence), I think it was between my B and my A that Harry was still in the under-21s like he was back then. and get into the first team.

“He wanted to stay back to finish all the time with John McDermott, who I think is one of the best youth developers in world football and is now technical director of the FA.

“We arrived after one of the training sessions and he said: 'who was good' and I said 'Kane'. He said: 'anyone else?' and I said 'no, Harry Kane'.

“I said he has the rhythm of Shearer's shot and the back lift of Robbie Fowler.

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“If you've ever played goalkeeper against Robbie Fowler, his back lift is small and you don't have time to get your feet in position and the ball is in your reach before you know it.

“He (Fowler) was so precise in hitting the corners, as we know from his own goal record and from Shearer, that I don't even think he looked at the goalkeeper.

“He just smashed the ball and if the goalkeeper was able to stop it, then fair play. When I played against him, it seemed like that was how he approached finishing.

“Kane was magnificent. I wouldn't say Spurs were questioning him, but he (McDermott) sat back in his chair and wanted to know more about why a player who had played so many Premier League games just said that about one of the players from his academy where there may have been some questions.

“It wasn't about whether I was a good professional or whether I would have a professional career, but whether I was going to be the best number 9 in the world.

“If you were saving his shot, it was a great save.”

Kane became Tottenham's all-time leading scorer during his time at the club with 280 to his name before leaving for Bayern Munich last summer.

Since then, he has scored a staggering 39 goals for the German side and Bayern will be hoping to go all the way in the Champions League.