Luka Modric and Harry Kane spent some time together at Tottenham when the English striker was coming through in the 2011/12 season and the 25-year-old has praised the midfielder.
Kane believes the Real Madrid man deserves the awards he has been collecting throughout 2018, such as The Best.
"He's definitely up there," Kane said in a press conference on Saturday when asked where Modric ranks in terms of the world's best players.
"I played a little bit with him when I was younger at Spurs.
"Everyone knows how good a player he is and he has been doing it year after year.
"He deserves all the awards he's getting, but hopefully he might have a quiet night tomorrow and we can win the game."
For Kane, this latest meeting with Croatia will bring back painful memories of England's World Cup semi-final heartbreak.
"With any big game you lose, you always think about what you could have done better," he said when asked about his thoughts on that defeat in Russia.
Sunday's UEFA Nations League meeting between the two teams at Wembley kicks off at 15:00 CET.
smith09
189
stop joking as a "playmaker" he should have more passes more key passes more chances created... but oh no all be had more than Cristiano n messi was passes. Kroos marcelo isco ramos isco they all had better stats than him .😩😩 just because someone is giving awards doesn't mean he deserved it. How is modric the best player when he ain't even in the top 20 passers assists providers, chances created key passes... by the way Cristiano has more of these and others than him in every competition 😩😩. the ballon d'or is an individual award: your performance in the season and your contribution to your team success. Now take modric out of laliga ucl or any competition and see if madrid needed him.