Harry Kane can find happiness at Tottenham Hotspur rather than needing a career quick fix, according to Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard.
Spurs kept hold of their leading marksman despite Manchester City’s £100million bid last summer.
Kane initially told Spurs he wanted to leave but City’s attempts to sign him ended in failure and the England skipper has scored 33 goals for club and country this term.
Gerrard had opportunities to leave Liverpool, most notably for Chelsea in 2005 after winning the Champions League, but stayed at Anfield until 2015.
The 41-year-old only went on to win the FA Cup and League Cup with Liverpool before joining LA Galaxy and feels any silverware at Spurs would mean more to Kane.
“I admire his loyalty to Tottenham and, of course, I’m sure it’s been tempting for him on many occasions to go and take one of those options,” he said, ahead of Spurs’ trip to Villa Park on Saturday.
“The Spurs fans should enjoy him and admire the loyalty he’s given them. You can see a guy who is desperate for success with Tottenham and I have a lot of admiration for that.
“He might still have the opportunity to achieve a couple of things in his career which might mean more to him with Tottenham than anyone else because of what Tottenham have also given the player.
“That’s what it boiled down to with me. The decision was, yes I could go to three or four teams in a foreign country or a couple domestically who maybe have a better chance of winning.
“But winning something with your team, the one you love and the supporters you love, I think that will mean more to him for the rest of his life than a short-term fix.”
Gerrard also revealed his regret at not playing with Kane for England after retiring from international football a year before the striker made his senior debut.
“I wish I had the opportunity to play with him, you always want to play with top players,” he said.
“The way he plays would have helped my game to the next level and I’ve got enough confidence and belief in the way I played I might have been able to help him. I played with world class players with England and unfortunately I never got the chance to play with him.
“He’s the perfect captain for England right now, a world class player and with the way he carries himself on and off the pitch.”
Gerrard could welcome back Marvelous Nakamba from a knee injury while Emi Buendia and Tyrone Mings are expected to shake off knocks following last week’s 2-1 defeat at Wolves which left Villa 11th in the Premier League.
Gerrard added: “It gives us an opportunity to try and come out of the blocks quicker and try to find a performance over 90 minutes – that’s what we need if we’re to find the outcome we want.”
