Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas rates Jermain Defoe level with Radamel Falcao as the best striker he has worked alongside.

The Portuguese boss coached £50m rated Falcao during his time at Porto, but insisted that his current first choice striker is just as good.

The Colombian was instrumental in AVB’s Europa League winning campaign, prior to his arrival at Chelsea, netting a number of key goals, including a strike in the final.

Although the 26-year-old is one of the top attackers in Europe, Villas-Boas singled out Defoe as being just as good:

"Jermain knows how to score goals." He is quoted by The Mirror.

"He has been doing it for all of his life. I certainly put him alongside Falcao.

"I don't have a lot of experience. The experience I have is with a couple of strikers, but I put him up there with the best."

Villas-Boas has coached a number of fine forwards in his time at Chelsea and Porto, including Fernando Torres, Didier Drogba and Hulk, but believes that Defoe’s instincts make him one of the best:

"At Chelsea, things were a bit different - irregular in terms of our goal-scoring ability. We reached January with Didier and Fernando on three goals each, which makes things a little more difficult.

"This [Defoe's goals] is what a manager wants - a striker on top form. Jermain's hunger for goal is extreme.

"This is what pleases you, as a manager. It makes things easier for you to work with because you don't have to teach a lot.

"He smells every cross and when the opportunity is there to tap it in. Plus he has the ability to turn on the defenders and he still has the pace in him to cause chaos.”