Mauricio Pochettino is the only manager to have coached both Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe. The former Tottenham and Paris Saint-Germain boss has made a major comparison between the two strikers ahead of England's World Cup quarter-final against the reigning world champions, France.
Mbappe has scored five goals for Les Bleus so far in the tournament and is their main attacking threat. Kyle Walker looks set to be the man to try and deal with the PSG star with Gary Neville suggesting Gareth Southgate could revert to a five-man defence to counter France's attack.
Kane scored his first goal at the World Cup in Qatar during England's 3-0 win over Senegal in the last 16 and remains the joint-top assist provider at the tournament. Whilst there is a clear contrast in the physicality of each player, Pochettino has discussed the key difference he found from coaching both strikers.
READ MORE: The Harry Kane hypocrisy that makes no sense in England's World Cup run to baffle Tottenham fans
Writing in a column for The Athletic, Pochettino admitted he would 'love' to see Kane and Mbappe in the same team and believes they could strike a similar partnership to the England captain and Son Heung-min. The former Spurs boss wrote: "Harry is someone who does need to feel connected with the game.
"But Kylian is the opposite. If he doesn’t touch the ball, he’s relaxed. He’s so confident in himself, he knows that when the ball reaches him, he is still going to beat his opponent and do what he knows best.
"Kylian also loves to watch football, and to talk about football. Sometimes, players with that much talent are not so interested in tactics, organisation and how teams play.
"They’re more focused on amazing goals or actions. But Kylian loves to talk about tactics and to understand the game. This is something that unites Harry and Kylian. They really love the game.
"Sometimes, big players love playing football but they don’t love the game itself. But these two genuinely love the game itself. They love to talk about football, they love to talk about tactics, they have brains that really understand football.
"And this is why I think it would be so good to see them playing together. They would be completely compatible. It could be similar to the bond that Harry has with Son Heung-min at Spurs. The connection would be amazing, and the two could share ideas about tactics and movements.
"Maybe it will never happen; when I was at PSG, I knew Tottenham would never want to sell Harry. And I never wanted to do anything that would affect Tottenham, because I love Tottenham.
"But maybe one day in the future, if I am at a different club, and if Harry has decided to leave Tottenham, maybe I would try to bring Harry with me. And so if you asked me to name two great attacking players who could play well together, it would be Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe."
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