After Kane had scored the winning goal in the Premier League match against Manchester City to take his total for Spurs to 267, his post-match celebration included the broadcasting of a congratulatory message from Greaves' son Danny.

Meanwhile the Twitter account of the late scorer of legend - who died aged 81 in 2021 – features a "Family Statement": "Congrats to Harry Kane. We are proud that Jimmy's record has stood for over 50 years and know he would have been happy for Harry to be the one to beat it after all this time. Congratulations to Harry from the Greaves Family. Irene, Lynn, Andy, Mitzi and Danny."

Kane celebrated his 15th minute goal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with all the enthusiasm of an 18-year-old - which was his age when he scored his first goal for the club in a 2011 Europa League match against Shamrock Rovers.

That goal was evidence of future promise. A cross from the left by full back Danny Rose was knocked back down to him from the far post, and his right foot finish was swift and sure as the falling of a guillotine blade.

That edge, that certainty, has told again and again in intervening years both for Tottenham and England, of whom he is a proud and respected captain. 

And yes, no one more than he will rue the fact that he was unable to convert a second penalty in the recent FIFA World Cup quarter-final against France. Even greatness nods.

Inevitably, now the mantle has passed over, there is renewed speculation from fans over who was the greater player.

The stats tell part of the story. Kane's 267 goals for his club have come in 416 games, while Greaves reached 266 after 379 matches between 1961 and 1970.

On average, Kane has a career goal-per-game rate of 0.64 for Tottenham, a touch less than Greaves at 0.70.

In the 1962-1963 season, Greaves scored 44 goals in 49 games for Spurs as they finished runners-up in the First Division behind Everton before becoming the first British club to win a European trophy by beating holders Atletico Madrid 5-1 in Rotterdam.

And Greaves remains the all-time top goalscorer in the history of the English top flight with a total of 357 goals in 516 games for Chelsea – his first club – Spurs and West Ham.

While Kane, characteristically, took full responsibility for his missed penalty in the France match, he can look back at the last two World Cup competitions with satisfaction.

In 2018, when England reached the semi-final, he won the Golden Boot as scorer of six goals. Last year, although he only scored once, he played a huge part in England’s ride to the last eight.

Greaves played in all four of England’s matches at the 1962 World Cup in Chile, including the quarter-final against eventual winners Brazil, scoring once.

His experience at the 1966 World Cup staged in England is well-told. In the third group match against France, he was involved in a relatively meaningless midfield challenge and sustained a badly gashed shin.

That kept him out of the quarter-final against Argentina, where England won 1-0 thanks to a goal from his replacement, Geoff Hurst.

Whether he was fit enough to play in the semi-final, won 2-1 against Portugal, or the drama-fest of the final itself, where Hurst scored a hat-trick as England beat West Germany 4-2 after extra time, was never entirely clear.

He played only three more times for England. In 1968, having been an unused substitute during the European Championships, he told manager Alf Ramsey that if he was not going to be chosen for the team he did not want to be selected for the squad. At 27, his international career was over.

Looking back at that 1966 World Cup campaign the reflections of some of his team-mates were instructive about the dilemma Ramsey faced as the world’s greatest finisher nursed injury and the Wembley showpiece final loomed.

Alan Ball, who was for many observers the man of the match in the final, at the age of 21, later wrote about the decision to stick with Hurst: "With Geoff I could always bounce the ball off him, build something.

"He would help you get into the team. With Jimmy, you had to play for him. Geoff could do more for our team."

Hurst's West Ham team-mate Martin Peters, who would later be involved in a £200,000 - big money then! - exchange deal with Greaves as he went to Spurs in 1970, wrote this about the latter's England career in his 2006 autobiography The Ghost of '66.

"Jim scored 44 goals in 57 matches, and it’s a shame that he played his last game for England at the age of 27.

"I wonder what he might have achieved had he remained in the England squad, because he had an unrivalled talent for scoring goals."

Peters quotes The Sunday Times football writer Brian Glanville on Greaves - "His instinct for being in the right place near the goal was almost psychic."

But then he adds: "The game was changing though. Jim had a relaxed attitude to training at a time when coaches were beginning to put more and more emphasis on athleticism, mobility and hard running.

"In the penalty box, however, there was no one to touch him. He lived off his wits and his sudden burst of speed, but he never wore shin pads. He felt they slowed him up. Well maybe, but shin pads might have reduced the risk of injury."

Speaking about the win over Argentina, Peters added: "Despite being a great fan of Jimmy Greaves I had to admit we hadn’t missed him. Jim could turn a match with a flash of brilliance but he was a bit of a lone wolf. I thought we looked a better-balanced unit with Geoff in the team."

Ultimately the fruits of the decision justified the decision. It worked. Historically.

In terms of playing style, Kane has far more to his game in terms of linking and providing himself as a target man. You could say, in fact, that in this respect Kane is Greaves and Hurst combined.

But for those who followed Greaves in his glory years - or even those who saw him, as I did, playing at the end of his career and caught up with his earlier brilliance through You Tube - there never was and never will be anyone to compare.

His third goal against Scotland in the 9-3 win at Wembley on April 15, 1961 - the camera shows it from the point of view of the hapless Frank Haffey in the Scot's goal. 

There are two defenders between him and Greaves. Then there are no defenders between him and Greaves. Then the ball has been darted past him to the corner of the goal with a stab of the left foot - the stab of a toreador.

The celebrated goals for Spurs at White Hart Lane against Manchester United and Newcastle United - slaloming runs both through the heart of the defence, the ball directed home in insouciant fashion on both occasions. Watching those goals again is like listening to two complete, utterly satisfying sentences.

Greaves must have smashed the ball home on occasions – but I can’t recall them. Even his first two for West Ham in 1970, on a mudheap at Maine Road against Manchester City, were placed rather than powered. He’d already done all the required leg-work - and, more to the point, brain-work.

Kane is great. Greaves was a genius.