Tottenham star Harry Kane deserves to be compared to Cristiano Ronaldo, but Mauricio Pochettino revealed his wife was jealous of his love for the forward.

Kane struck a perfect hat-trick to lead Spurs to a 3-0 Champions League victory over APOEL on Tuesday.

The England international already has nine goals this season and Pochettino said he was "in love" with the forward after his side's win over West Ham on Saturday.

The Argentinian hailed the 24-year-old Kane and said he deserved comparisons to Real Madrid star Ronaldo and Barcelona maestro Lionel Messi, but he was unwilling to talk about his love again.

"I think they are completely different type of players. For me Harry is one of the best strikers. Cristiano is different. Not a striker, like Messi, a different type of player," Pochettino said.

"It doesn't change my perception of Harry Kane because he scored three goals. For me he's one of the best as I told you.

"But I don't want to describe him as I did after West Ham because it was so controversial the description."

Asked about the loving comment, Pochettino said: "Now my wife is so jealous. And his wife too.

"No, I think it's unbelievable. You know, it's Harry Kane."

Kane opened the scoring six minutes before half-time against APOEL and struck twice again after the break.

Pochettino was unwilling to be drawn into whether he would swap Kane for Ronaldo, saying he wanted both.

"Cristiano is fantastic, one of the best. Harry is one of the best and will get better because he's so young," he said.

"I cannot joke about that because both are fantastic. Both are the type of players you want in your team, in the same team."