Harry Kane's importance to Tottenham is as significant as the impact Lionel Messi had during his career at Barcelona, according to Clement Lenglet.
France defender Lenglet is well known to Messi having played alongside him at Camp Nou and also against the Argentina great during his time at Sevilla.
Messi had been a one-club man until the start of the 2021-22 season when Barca's perilous financial situation saw him depart for Paris Saint-Germain.
The superstar forward became the club's all-time leading scorer and a record seven-time Ballon d'Or winner at Barca, while he counts 10 LaLiga titles and four Champions League medals among a plethora of honours won with Los Cules.
While Kane has yet to win a medal with Spurs, Lenglet – who joined Tottenham from Barca on loan in the last transfer window – talked up the impact he has on the club.
In quotes reported by the Daily Mail, Lenglet said: "When you stay a long time in the same place and you achieve so many good things with the club it means you become a part of this club.
"Your face is connected to the club. For me, Messi is always a Barca player.
"For Harry it's the same. It's difficult to think of Harry in another country or playing for another team. Tottenham is a big club, Harry is a big player and Harry is a big part of Tottenham.
"We speak a lot about the player and that's important because we are players but I give the same importance to what he is like as a guy. He is an amazing example for all his team-mates."
Describing what it is like to be play with and against Messi, Lenglet added: "You play with the greatest player in the world in my opinion.
"He helps you improve every day. I played with him [for Barca] and against him for Sevilla – it's better with him!"
Lenglet has made just three Premier League starts for Spurs this season but said it only required a short conversation with boss Antonio Conte to persuade him to make the move to north London, where he is still adjusting to a new way of life.
"We spoke about a lot of things. He [Conte] told me if I came here I would improve because the league is so competitive, you have to be ready and focused every game," Lenglet said.
"He said if I came here I would be happy because I would progress as a football player and it has been a good decision.
"It's a different culture, a different way to work. I was in Spain for six years. You work one way, you think one way, the football is the same. Now, you come to England – a different league, different intensity, different way to work. It's a good way to improve."
Tottenham sit third in the Premier League and are out to rebound from defeat against Manchester United when they face Newcastle United on Sunday.
Real Madrid hit Twente for seven, five-star Wolfsburg also win big
Real Madrid had six different goalscorers as they trounced Twente 7-0 in the Women's Champions League on Wednesday, while Wolfsburg beat Galatasaray 5-0.
Signe Bruun opened the scoring three minutes into the Group B encounter at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, then Maria Mendez's header gave Madrid a 2-0 half-time lead.
Madrid, who had won one and lost one of their opening two games in the tournament, got a third through Naomie Feller five minutes into the second half, then Caroline Weir made it 4-0 with a brilliant free-kick.
Mendez headed home her second of the encounter shortly after the hour mark, while Oihane Hernandez and Carla Camacho got on the scoresheet late on to complete the rout.
The victory took Madrid second in the Group B standings ahead of Chelsea's trip to Celtic.
Wolfsburg were also convincing victors in Group A, getting off the mark for this season's competition as Rebecka Blomqvist scored a hat-trick in their 5-0 thrashing of Galatasaray.
The Bundesliga side – who failed to pick up a point or score a goal in their opening two matches – had a narrow 1-0 lead at half-time through Joelle Wedemeyer, before Blomqvist took centre-stage in the second period.
She tapped home after Janina Minge struck the crossbar, then added her second goal in the 77th minute and her third six minutes into stoppage time.
Vivien Endemann powered home a fifth for Wolfsburg one minute later, as they provisionally moved within three points of Lyon and Roma ahead of their meeting.
'England comes before anything' – Kane unhappy with Three Lions withdrawals
Harry Kane has questioned the number of players withdrawing from the latest England squad, insisting the national team "comes before anything".
England face Greece and the Republic of Ireland in their final two matches in Nations League Group B2 this week, also their last two games under interim head coach Lee Carsley before Thomas Tuchel takes over in January.
Eight players have withdrawn from Carsley's squad – Trent Alexander-Arnold, Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Aaron Ramsdale and Levi Colwill.
In an interview with ITV Sport on Wednesday, Three Lions skipper Kane appeared to question the commitment of those dropping out.
"I think England comes before anything. England comes before club," Kane said.
"England is the most important thing you play as a professional footballer and Gareth [Southgate] was hot on that and he wasn't afraid to make decisions if, you know, that started to drift from certain players.
"It's a shame this week obviously. I think it's a tough period of the season, maybe that's been taken advantage of a little bit.
"I don't really like it if I'm totally honest. I think England comes before anything, any club situation."
England likely need to beat Greece – who claimed a 2-1 victory at Wembley Stadium last month – to have any chance of winning automatic promotion back to League A.
Should the Three Lions finish second, they will face a third-placed finisher from League A – potentially Poland, Belgium, Hungary or Serbia – in a promotion play-off tie in March.
De Jong doubted ankle injury would heal ahead of Netherlands return
Barcelona's Frenkie de Jong doubted whether his troublesome ankle injury would ever go away but is now looking forward to resuming his international career after a pause of more than a year.
De Jong spent almost six months on the sidelines before returning for Hansi Flick's LaLiga leaders last month, but he has not represented the Netherlands since September 2023.
A series of ankle issues prevented him from featuring in the majority of the Oranje's Euro 2024 qualifiers and caused him to miss the final tournament in Germany, where they went out in the semi-finals to England.
He will likely get playing time in the Nations League on Saturday when Ronald Koeman's team host Hungary in Amsterdam in their penultimate Group A3 match.
"Did I wonder whether I would ever fully recover? That crossed my mind sometimes, but I always had the confidence that I would eventually be able to play football again," De Jong told reporters on Wednesday.
"There was uncertainty about how long it would take and whether my ankle would be completely the same as it was before."
The 27-year-old said the hardest part was missing this year's European Championships, as a late Ollie Watkins goal dashed the Netherlands' dreams of repeating their Euro 1988 triumph.
"That was tough. I watched all the matches of the Dutch national team but not much of the rest. I did not want to be confronted with it every time," De Jong said.
He was taken off on Sunday when Barcelona lost at Real Sociedad in LaLiga, but fears he would miss out for the Netherlands again were later abated.
"I first got a blow on the muscle next to my shin and then another kick, but it was nothing to do with my knee or ankle," he said.
"I knew it was not a serious injury, but it did bother me a lot."
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