Gary Lineker expects Man United, Man City, Barcelona interest in Harry Kane

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Former Tottenham Hotspur striker Gary Lineker has defended Harry Kane's comments over his future at the club but expects some of Europe's top teams to be interested in signing him.

Earlier this week Kane admitted that he would not stay with Spurs "for the sake of it" if he felt that they were no longer making progress, immediately sparking speculation over his future beyond the end of the current campaign.

Tottenham are understood to have put a £200m price tag on their talisman in an attempt to ward off interest in his services, but Lineker still expects the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City, Barcelona and Real Madrid to consider a move.

"It's understandable. He's a top class player; he's one of the great strikers in world football and there's bound to be a degree of frustration with the recent progress at Spurs. It's not easy; we've seen it with Arsenal that when you build a new ground it can slow down your development and that's possibly happening with Tottenham," Lineker told talkSPORT.

"He's just being very honest, isn't he. He's saying that if they don't go on to win things... because every player wants to win thing in their career – I didn't win too much myself. But it would be unthinkable for a player of Harry Kane's stature if he didn't win anything in his entire career. You can't criticise him too much for having that view; he's been at the club for a long time and he's been brilliant.

"And he might well stay there, they might possibly develop, but you'd say they're four or five players short of certainly challenging for the title. I don't think he'll be short of options. Possibly abroad, but it depends on him though. There are a lot of players who feel a bit uncomfortable about going abroad.

"When I played for Barcelona, a number of players in those days used to go aboard, quite a few went to Italy, and generally the ones who were successful wanted to go there for the whole experience, and the ones that weren't so successful perhaps just went for a few quid. So you need to be the kind of person who wants to experience another county's culture, etc. He needs to weigh it all up.

"There are obviously clubs in England that would have him. You look at Manchester City with Sergio Aguero, who is 32 now, and Manchester United desperately need a centre-forward. But then you look at Barcelona; Luis Suarez's legs are going a little bit so they could be looking for a centre-forward, who knows.

"Even at Real Madrid, Karim Benzema is no spring chicken anymore. There will be one or two of the giants of world football that will be looking for a striker. Strikers are the most important thing in the game!"

Kane has scored 181 goals in 278 games for Tottenham, but is yet to win a major trophy for club or country.