This article is part of Football FanCast's Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba's haircuts to League Two relegation battles...

Lucas Moura has outlined exactly why he is not an elite player.

The Tottenham Hotspur forward gave an interview to A Bola, transcribed by Sport Witness, earlier this week and claimed that he does not view himself as being of the same level as striker Harry Kane at Spurs.

The 27-year-old said: “I demand from myself, mainly because of my position on the pitch, because I know I always have to do something different, be it a goal, an assist … the numbers are even more important in today’s football.

“I know my ability, I know what I can do and where can I get. But I won’t consider myself as decisive a player, for example, as Kane.

“However, I know my importance here. I know that by doing my best, something good will end up happening on the pitch. I trust my quality a lot and always try to improve.”

That simply isn’t what he should be saying.

Now, of course, he has said that he is aware of his own abilities and that he always looks to find ways to get better.

However, his assertion that he isn’t “as decisive a player” as Kane is the kind of mediocre mentality that holds so many players back.

Who is that?! Can you name all of these obscure Spurs signings? Give it a go now...

Sure, the statistics prove Lucas’ words. He has only ever scored a maximum of 12 goals in a single league season, doing so while a PSG player. Kane, by comparison, scored 17 last season and already has seven to his name in 2019/20.

But elite players don’t let that get in the way.

What would have happened if Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi didn’t push themselves to be the best all the time? What if they’d have decided the status quo was just that and didn’t attempt to make the breakthrough?

Lucas clearly believes he is as good as he will ever be and he has provided Spurs fans with incredible moments – notably that hat-trick against Ajax in the Champions League last season – but these words prove that he’ll remain the streaky, occasionally brilliant player that he is right now.

If he had a better mentality, perhaps he would be the consistently brilliant player that Kane is.

Meanwhile, Spurs fans have reacted to a new claim about Mauricio Pochettino.