Real Madrid 'consider £177m bid' for Tottenham striker Harry Kane after stunning start to the season

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Real Madrid are considering a summer bid for Tottenham striker Harry Kane and are not deterred by the potential €200million (£177m) price tag, according to Spanish website Don Balon.

President Florentino Perez has been looking for a marquee striker for years, but the much-maligned Karim Benzema has held his place after winning favour with Zinedine Zidane and Cristiano Ronaldo.

However, with Benzema now struggling to keep up the high standards, Perez is looking to finally bring a top striker to the Bernabeu and, at the moment, there are few better than Kane.

Tottenham star Harry Kane could be the subject of a huge bid from Real Madrid next summer

The striker has scored 11 goals for Tottenham this season, including this spectacular effort

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez is looking for a major striker to add to his squad

Tottenham are understood to be determined to keep their star man. 

The 24-year-old has already hit the back of the net 11 times in all competitions for Tottenham this season and looks well on his way to winning a third consecutive Premier League golden boot.

Since 28 February 2016, the London-born star has scored an incredible 44 goals in the top flight, a full eight more than the next nearest player, Sergio Aguero.

Still so early into his career, the England international has the potential to reach incredible heights in the game and Real Madrid are willing to spend huge money to make sure he does so in La Liga.

Kane will further enhance his reputation by wearing the captain's armband for England

The 24-year-old is likely to become the next permanent captain following Wayne Rooney

However, Tottenham will be very unwilling to sell their biggest and best player ahead of their move to a new stadium and Daniel Levy will likely look for something closer to the £198m that PSG paid to sign Neymar from Barcelona.

Kane's stature will be further heightened on Thursday as Sportsmail understands he will move a significant step closer to becoming the next permanent captain of England.

The Three Lions face Slovenia and Wembley in a qualifier that could seal their palce in next summer's World Cup and Kane will keep the armband after wearing it in their last two ties against Scotland and France.

Speaking ahead of the game, England manager Gareth Southgate likened Kane to two Premier League greats and thanked Tottenham for lifting him to a new level in such a short space of time.

Gareth Southgate will give Kane the captaincy for the Slovenia and Lithuania games

'You could see from the start that Harry was deadly,' recalled Southgate. 'The quality of finishing in training took me back to watching Alan Shearer and Robbie Fowler. It was a case of, "OK, can he transfer that into the matches?" 

'The biggest change has been physical. Since Mauricio has been at Spurs, their conditioning work has improved the team and Harry has benefited from that as much as anyone.

'He looks strong, lean, a little bit quicker and sharper. When you know you're in good physical condition, it has an effect on your mentality. You are in a better place.'