Tottenham striker Harry Kane almost joined Leeds United, according to former club scout

Tottenham were considering selling Harry Kane to Leeds United in 2014 but were ultimately persuaded not to by former midfielder, youth coach and manager Tim Sherwood, according to former Spurs scout David Magrone.

Kane is rightly seen as one of the world's best strikers, but before Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino decided to utilise him as his first-choice forward his career was at something of a crossroads. The 24-year-old was loaned to Leyton Orient, Norwich City, Millwall and Leicester City before being thrust into the limelight by Pochettino in 2014, but he failed to make a real name for himself at any of those clubs.

Tottenham will no doubt be glad that they decided against selling Kane, who is the Premier League's top goalscorer the season and a mooted target for Real Madrid, but Magrone, who worked as a European scout for the north London outfit, revealed that the Lilywhites have Sherwood to thank for convincing them to stick with the much admired England international.

"There was serious consideration among the hierarchy at the club to letting him go to Leeds," said Magrone in an interview with Australia's SBS. "He'd been out on loan and had never really set the world on fire.

"But Tim [Sherwood] knew he was a Premier League player in the making, and really didn't want to let him go, even if the chairman [Daniel Levy] possibly did."

"It wasn't like he was costing the club too much or anything like that, it was really a question of whether he was going to make it at Tottenham.

"It was really only Harry's desire to dig and prove himself at the top level and Tim's belief in him that stopped him going. He backed his ability and the rewards are fully deserved. I don't think he once seriously considered going."

Leeds boss Thomas Christiansen does not have the pleasure of being able to call on Kane in the Championship, though he does have a wealth of attacking options available to him at Elland Road.

Strikers Kemar Roofe, Pierre-Michel Lasogga, Jay-Roy Grot, Paweł Cibicki and Caleb Ekuban are all part of Leeds' first team squad and are tasked with firing the Peacocks back to the top-flight of English football, where Kane currently plies his trade.

The Tottenham talisman is arguably the most potent striker in the Premier League, but he will not be able to carry on his rich vein of goalscoring form against Manchester United this weekend after suffering a minor hamstring problem during his side's win over Liverpool last Sunday.