'I wish he was a Red': Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard heaps praise on Tottenham striker Harry Kane

Liverpool icon Steven Gerrard has been effusive in his praise of Harry Kane and wishes that the in-form striker plied his trade at Anfield rather than with Tottenham Hotspur.

Two-time Premier League Golden Boot winner Kane has comprehensively banished his annual August blues and got himself firmly back on the goal trail of late, netting seven in as many days with successive top-flight braces against West Ham United and Huddersfield Town coming either side of a Champions League hat-trick in Nicosia.

The 24-year-old notched 13 times in just eight appearances for Spurs in September after failing to score at all during the opening month of the season.

He will be looking to carry that form into October by ensuring that England secure the two points they require from a final pair of qualifiers against Slovenia and Lithuania to book their spot at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Waxing lyrical about £200m-rated ($264.0m) Kane's recent performances during an interview with Sky Sports, former Liverpool and Three Lions captain Gerrard, who currently serves as both a television pundit and the Reds' Under-18s manager said: "He's the in-form player in world football in terms of goals scored, how he's playing.

"I love the player, I love the character. I watch his interviews a lot and I've also met him on a couple of occasions, I think he's a perfect role model and ambassador for the game.

"I love the way he goes about his work. I've also spoken to people who know him better than myself and I've heard he's obsessed and relentless on the training ground. I'm sure he's getting rewards now for all that hard work. I'm glad he's English, I wish he was a red. Buy yeah, [I'm] really happy for him, the form he's in and [I'm] really enjoying watching him at the moment."

More than just a prolific scorer who continues to make a mockery of previous predictions that he would prove to be nothing more than a one-season wonder, Kane's leadership qualities have been similarly lauded and he was handed the captain's armband by England boss Gareth Southgate for international matches against Scotland and France earlier this year.

Although Southgate has indicated a willingness to keep sharing such a responsibility around the squad and could wait until next summer before deciding on a permanent replacement for retired former skipper Wayne Rooney, Southampton left-back Ryan Bertrand has backed Kane to take on the role full-time.

"He is in great form," he said. "Him coming to the England camp in such fine form is a massive boost for the whole squad. (The captaincy) is completely down to the manager. 'H' gets my vote, what we are blessed with is we have a lot of leaders in the camp now and whoever is tasked with that duty on the night is deserving of that."

However, Southgate's predecessor and current Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson has warned that the burden of the permanent captaincy could have an adverse effect on Kane's rich goal-scoring form.