Tottenham Hostpur may be struggling to hit the heights of the last few seasons, but their poster boy Harry Kane is having yet another excellent campaign.

The striker has already found the net 18 times in the Premier League so far this season, and is right on course to retain the competition's Golden Boot award - it will be the third time in a row that the Englishman has won it.

Kane is one goal ahead of Liverpool attacker Mohamed Salah, while Manchester City duo Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero wallow well behind in third and fourth place, with 14 and 13 goals respectively.

To top it all off, the 24-year old surpassed Alan Shearer's record of 36 league goals in a calendar year on Boxing Day, when he scored a hat-trick in the 5-2 win against Southampton. He scored three more than Shearer managed, and also did it in six games fewer.

All this only becomes more impressive when you take into account that the big forward was still unable to shake his apparent August hoodoo in 2017, failing to score in the month once again.

However, with excellent form and a fantastic goal-scoring record comes a deluge of inevitable transfer rumours, and Harry Kane is no different.

Kane praises Coutinho's attitude

Brazilian attacker Philippe Coutinho sealed his dream move to FC Barcelona a few days ago, and it is yet another example of how tough it is for players to resist the temptations of joining one of the elite La Liga giants.

The now-former Liverpool man has spoken extremely highly of his former club in the days since the transfer, and has thanked them for allowing him to fulfil his dream.

Kane has spoken about Coutinho's move, and has complimented the diminutive Brazilian's professionalism throughout the whole process.

He told the Independent: “I think if a player wants to go then why would you stop him? He’s not going to be in the club, he’s not going to play every game, he’s not going to put his heart on the line.

“From the Coutinho point of view I think he’s been very professional in the six months he has played this year and, look, Liverpool have got a good offer from Barca and accepted it so I wouldn’t say they’re powerless but I can see why if a player wants to go you would let him go.”

A warning sign for Spurs?

Given the current transfer rumour circling around Kane, his words on the Coutinho transfer could be interpreted as a reason for concern about his future in London.

Real Madrid are doing little to deny their interest in securing the services of the man that led Tottenham to four points from six in the Champions League Group Stage against them earlier this season.

With Cristiano Ronaldo not getting any younger and Karim Benzema misfiring, Los Merengues are in desperate need for a regular and reliable goalscorer if they are to have any chance of catching up with Barcelona, who look to be well ahead in terms of ability on the pitch.

It could be that Kane's comments only fuel the speculation, as he seems to have the opinion that if a player wants a move, then their club should not stop them.

This could put Spurs in a tricky situation should Kane decide once-and-for-all that he wished to join his former teammates Gareth Bale and Luka Modric at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Tottenham will feel safe in the knowledge that Kane wants to stay at the club for now, but that could quite easily change, and his club are taking no chances - they are expected to double the striker's wages in a bid to convince him that London is the place for him to be.

For now, Coutinho is the only player to be making a big money move from England to La Liga, but Liverpool may not be the only team trying to replace their star player within the next 12 months.