Neil Warnock believes Crystal Palace would have landed Harry Kane on loan this season if Tottenham had not been competing in the Europa League.
The Eagles' boss confirmed on Thursday morning he had enquired about taking England Under-21 international Kane to Selhurst Park when he replaced Tony Pulis as Eagles manager -- but he was shown short shrift.
Kane has struck 11 goals for Mauricio Pochettino's men but has only established himself in Tottenham's Premier League side in the last month.
Until then he was used sparingly as a substitute and restricted to playing a key role in the Europa League group stages -- the main reason Warnock felt a move for Kane never got off the ground.
"I tried to get him a few times when I came here," the 66-year-old said. "He is a good lad and you know what you are going to get with him. He is an exciting player. His first thought when he gets the ball is positive and I like players like that, who commit defenders.
"He obviously enjoys it, you can tell by the smile on his face. He is a good asset.
"At the time, he was not involved and we felt there was a chance of getting him on loan. But unfortunately they were in that horrible cup on a Thursday night.
"I think we might have had a shout because he needed to play games but from our point of view he played in that competition, did quite well and then worked his way into the first team."
Kane came close to breaking the deadlock as Spurs lost 3-0 at league leaders Chelsea on Wednesday night and is likely to retain his place for the visit of Palace, who also go into the contest on the back of a defeat having slipped to a 1-0 reverse at home to Aston Villa.
Warnock had wanted to give Kane a chance to make a name for himself in the Premier League having been impressed when he had seen him in action.
"We didn't speak to the manager or what have you but we just asked about his availability and were told that on Thursdays he was important in the squad," he added.
"I just thought at the time it might be good for him to come and play and get some experience. He's a hard-working lad who can finish and I think he's got a good future ahead of him. He's English as well.
"He's got a good grounding with the squads he's been in, like the England side, as well. I think everything about him is positive at the minute.
Warnock admitted he has already drawn up a list of January transfer targets and, having missed out on Kane, it is a forward -- with Andy Johnson and Kevin Doyle injured and Dwight Gayle replaced at half-time against Villa through illness -- that he hopes to bring in.
"I think we know we haven't got enough fire-power," he said. "When you look at the other teams they have all got main strikers to select from. I think the lads are doing as well as they can. We do need improvement in that area and we are looking to address that in January."
The Eagles may not be able to break the bank to bring in anyone during the transfer window but, in a similar way to their failed bid for Kane, Warnock is willing to dip his toe into the loan market.
"We're looking at things like that," he said. "There may be players like Kane who are not getting into the team who the club itself might feel beneficial by lending him to another Premier League club that's probably not fighting out for the top half of the table.
"So it's all a matter of getting experience for some of these lads and I think the higher they can go the better really if they can get experience at the Premier League level.
"I think a lot of players go abroad on loan, don't they? A lot of managers let them go abroad but sometimes it's better for the player to be in and amongst the Premier League. It's a tough league.
"Then I think the experience you get, if they can get games regularly in the Premier League, will only help the club where they come from really, rather than going abroad and it's a different culture and different tempo and then they come back and they still can't get in the team. I think it does help certain players."