Harry Kane is one of the deadliest forwards in the game today with a scoring rate to challenge the best strikers in the world and a bank balance – a net worth of £30m – to rival them as well but has he always been destined for the top?
Football can be a ‘loan-ly’ place
Harry Kane, who was on Arsenal’s books as an eight-year-old, came through the ranks at Tottenham with a breakthrough not forthcoming for some time. Instead, Kane spent various spells out on loan and none of his displays would have made people think he’d go on to be one of the elite strikers like he is now. Basically, Kane is an England football team player.
From January 2011 to February 2013, Kane spent time with four teams – Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich City and Leicester City – and only managed, on average, a goal in every four games having netted 16 goals in 65 appearances. His time with Millwall saw him produce his best return – nine goals and five assists in 27 matches – and despite less productive spells following afterwards someone in the Spurs hierarchy had seen enough to give him a chance to shine.
Seizing the opportunity
A Spurs debut was actually squeezed in amongst his loan spells, but it wasn’t until the 2013/14 campaign that he really stepped up. Andre Villas-Boas had been relieved of his duties and replaced by former Tottenham midfielder Tim Sherwood and, although his time on the field was limited, he made an impact in the form of three goals and two assists giving him a goal involvement just under every 100 minutes.
Those stats, as well as his all-round game, gave Kane a platform to kick on from in the following season and that’s exactly what he did as he made 34 Premier League appearances and grabbed 21 goals in the process.
One season wonder
The English media, particularly around football, are good at building a player up purely to knock them down again and after Kane’s 20 goal season he was hit with a raft of claims that he was a one-hit wonder who had a ‘lucky’ season.
The fact he started the next campaign with a run of just one goal in nine games hardly quietened those claims but from then he sunk seven in four and Kane couldn’t stop scoring. The Premier League campaign alone saw him find the net 25 times and the one season wonder labels were blown away; instead we had a player who could break every record going.
Harry Kane footballer Gunning for records
There are three key records that Kane, has in his sights and he’s been widely backed to break all of them only time will tell but he’s definitely in with a shout.
On the club front he’s chasing down Jimmy Greaves’ record of 266 goals. Kane currently has 179 goals, which means if he keeps up his season average of 32 goals then in two years time he’ll be hot on the heels of Greaves.
On the international scene Kane has already racked up 32 goals for England, which means he’s 21 behind Wayne Rooney. Given Kane is only 26 he has plenty of time ahead of him and Gareth Southgate has the Three Lions playing well enough to go deep into tournaments giving Kane more chances to notch.
Finally, there is the Premier League all-time scoring record that Alan Shearer holds with 260. Kane could feasibly catch Shearer, but one thing might stand in his way – his desire to win silverware.
Trophy, Tottenham or both?
One thing that does rear its head when talking about Kane is the fact that Tottenham haven’t won silverware. Being a Spurs lad, loyalty plays a huge role but at the end of his career trophies will talk.
Kane has also previously revealed a dream of playing as quarterback in the NFL after his footballing career is over. It is no wonder, since he has a physique and a strength that would rival a stallion horse in the Kentucky Derby odds.
If Spurs remain a near side for the next year or two then Kane may well look to move on and that will likely kill any hope of breaking domestic records. That said, with Jose Mourinho now Kane’s gaffer, silverware could soon coming flooding in to grasp anyway and that will see Kane with the best of both worlds.
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