Harry Kane's 'Tottenham loyalty' gives him the edge in London derbies, says Matt Le Tissier

Matt Le Tissier reckons Harry Kane's loyalty to Tottenham is what gives him the edge in London derbies - and thinks he could stay at Spurs for the rest of his career.

Kane heads into Thursday night's clash with West Ham, live on Sky Sports Premier League, with a fine goalscoring record against London rivals, having scored 21 times in 31 Premier League London derbies - including seven goals in his last six meetings with the Hammers following a first-half double in a 3-2 victory back in September.

Following back-to-back blanks against Crystal Palace and Arsenal, the 24-year-old's capital clash record of a goal every 119.8 minutes is now marginally behind Thierry Henry's of 114.1, but he does still boast a vastly superior record in north London derbies with six in six to the Frenchman's five in 10.

"I think that his love for Tottenham gives him a different edge to other players and his intensity levels reach a higher level.

"I would imagine that has benefited his career generally as he's comfortable with playing at such intensity as Tottenham have so many derby matches.

"There's also the fact that he is the consummate professional, knows how to control his emotions and feed off the pressure and he seems to be sorted on and off the pitch, which certainly helps."

Le Tissier was a rare breed in spending his entire career at Southampton and believes Kane, who came through the Spurs academy before several loan moves, will resist any interest from Europe's top sides.

He said: "I don't see why he wouldn't stay there for the rest of his career. People talk about money a lot but you'd think once they've moved into their new stadium they'll loosen their purse strings and probably offer him twice as he's on now.

"He's never struck me as the sort of bloke who would demand a move if Tottenham failed to miss out on qualifying for the Champions League."

Kane was 2017's highest scoring player in Europe's top five leagues but Le Tiss sees England as the biggest barrier to him winning the game's top individual accolade, the Ballon d'Or.

"In terms of the calendar year it doesn't get much better," he added. "If he does better it then he'll be looking at winning the Ballon d'Or because he was just phenomenal."

"To continue in that vein, scoring that amount of goals would be incredible.

"But I think, with it being a World Cup year, England are quite possibly the biggest thing standing in his way. He probably needs to fire them to the semi-finals to have a real chance because people look at that as hugely influential."