Kane signs new Spurs deal: how brilliant is he?
Harry Kane, who will captain England at this summer’s FIFA World Cup, has signed a new six-year contract with boyhood club Tottenham. UEFA.com pores over his achievements to date and gazes into the crystal ball to see what landmarks could lie on the horizon.
What they say
“I find it hard to find the words to describe him. I am in love like the fans are in love, like his team-mates are in love. He is so humble, he keeps all the values that managers like me appreciate a lot. That is why I am in love with him for different reasons … [Then three days later] Now my wife is so jealous. And his wife too.”
Mauricio Pochettino, Tottenham manager
“He is very good at everything. But what he does, he always does it towards the goal, so to speak. He doesn’t just stay still, but he always attacks space at speed. He is a complete player. He did not seem to be one, but in the end he is!”
Zinédine Zidane, Real Madrid coach
“He can play high up, he can come deep and get on the ball. Ultimately, you are judged on scoring goals and he is scoring a lot of goals. Harry could go on to become an all-time great in the Premier League. He is certainly on his way.”
Robbie Keane, former Spurs and Republic of Ireland striker
“Alan Shearer was a freak of a goalscorer. There’s another one here. He’s going to be the Premier League’s top scorer for the next ten years.”
Steven Gerrard, former England midfielder
“I really like Kane. If I was a manager, and had the money, I would go out and buy him tomorrow. The only player in his position I’d prefer in all of Europe is Robert Lewandowski, and Kane is a lot younger and getting better.”
Lothar Matthäus, former Germany midfielder
“He seems to have that natural ability to get goals. He’s also young, fresh and his attitude appears to be very, very good. What I like about him is that he is willing to run in behind defenders, as well as go short. When he gets opportunities, he invariably takes them. He wants to get his shot away very quickly, which is good to see. It looks as if he could have a very good future in the game.”
Alan Shearer, former England striker in 2015
Current tally
International: 24 appearances, 13 goals
UEFA club competition: 41 appearances, 19 goals
Domestic competition: 237 appearances, 137 goals
Claims to Fame
Tottenham
• Having made his professional debut on loan at third-tier Leyton Orient in 2010/11, Kane experienced England’s top three divisions in the space of three seasons. He played for second-tier Millwall in 2011/12, then made his Premier League debut with Spurs the following season before spending the remainder of that campaign with Norwich and Leicester.
• Kane became a regular starter for Tottenham in 2014/15. He proceeded to score 31 goals that season, including 21 in the league, and was named PFA Young Player of the Year.
• In April 2017, Kane struck his 20th Premier League goal of the season against Bournemouth. It made him the fourth player in Premier League history to notch 20 goals in three consecutive campaigns after Shearer, Thierry Henry and Ruud van Nistelrooy.
• Kane netted seven times in the last two fixtures of 2016/17 – a 6–1 win at reigning champions Leicester and 7–1 victory at Hull – to claim the Premier League Golden Boot with 29 goals. It was the second season running he had scooped the award, making him the fifth player to achieve the feat.
• The first of his double in a 3-0 success at Everton on 9 September 2017 was his 100th goal overall for the club, a milestone reached in only 169 appearances.
• On 26 September, Kane hit his first UEFA Champions League hat-trick in a 3–0 victory at APOEL. He finished the group stage joint second in the scorers chart with six goals.
• Kane bagged back-to-back trebles against Burnley and Southampton in his final two matches of December to surpass Shearer’s record for Premier League goals in a calendar year, ending 2017 with 39 in the top flight. This also made him the first player in Premier League history to score six hat-tricks in a year.
• He plundered a total of 56 goals in all competitions in 2017, breaking the seven-year dominance of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as Europe’s leading marksman in a calendar year.
• Another year, another record as Kane netted twice in a 4–0 home win over Everton in January to became Tottenham’s top goalscorer in the Premier League era, eclipsing Teddy Sheringham’s landmark of 97.
• He became the first Spurs player to score 100 Premier League goals with a last-gasp penalty against Liverpool on 4 February.
• Kane’s goal against Juventus in last season’s round of 16 meant that he became the first player in UEFA Champions League history to have scored nine goals in his first nine competition appearances.
• Finished the 2017/18 campaign with 30 Premier League goals but missed out on a third top scorers’ prize to Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah. Only Kane, Henry and Shearer have scored 20+ Premier League goals in four successive seasons.
• Kane has been named in the Premier League Team of the Year in each of the past four campaigns.
England
• He struck just 79 seconds after coming on for the first time for England in a 4-0 victory over Lithuania on 27 March 2015 – the fastest debut goal since Tottenham legend Bill Nicholson scored in the first minute of his only senior international match, a 5-2 defeat of Portugal on 19 May 1951.
• Kane was England’s leading marksman in the European Qualifiers with five goals in six games and won the country’s Player of the Year award for 2017, hauling in 75% of votes from members of the England Supporters Club.
• He was announced as England’s 2018 FIFA World Cup captain on 22 May, manager Gareth Southgate saying: “Harry has some outstanding personal qualities. He is a meticulous professional and one of the most important things for a captain is that they set the standard every day.”
What you might not know
• Since he was born in nearby Walthamstow and supported Tottenham in his youth, it is no surprise Spurs fans have penned a song about the local boy made good: “He’s one of our own, he’s one of our own, Harry Kane is one of our own.”
• He attended the same secondary school as David Beckham, the Chingford Foundation School. Neither made the grade at Tottenham as a boy but, unlike Beckham, Kane returned to the club and grabbed his second chance with both hands.
• Away from football, Kane is a huge NFL fan and even has two Labradors named Brady and Wilson after quarterbacks Tom Brady and Russell Wilson. “When I am finished, I would love to go to the NFL and be a kicker. Even if I got to play just one game, it is something I would like to do.”
• Kane is engaged to childhood sweetheart Katie Goodland and, on 26 January, the couple announced they are expecting their second child. Their first, Ivy Jane Kane, was born in January 2017. “Now we’ve got a little daughter, me and the missus won’t talk about football as much.”
• He likes a barbecue. “Obviously, everyone’s different, but I love just settling down and having a barbecue with friends at the house.” But he is quite particular: “My biggest weakness is steak. I have to be careful not to eat too much of it these days, but I do love it done medium rare, with peppercorn sauce.”
• As if shouldering the hopes of the Tottenham faithful is not enough of a burden, Kane revealed in 2015 that he is also the talisman for his own fantasy football team. “I’m in my fantasy team as well, so there’s quite a bit of pressure!”
• His face recently adorned the front page of Madrid football daily Marca with the headline “Harry el Fuerte” (Harry the strong) amid whispers Real Madrid may try to prize Kane away from Tottenham, just as they did with Luka Modrić in 2012 and Gareth Bale a year later. However, the bright lights of Madrid are not necessarily the same draw for this Spurs forward …
What he says
“I’m delighted to have signed a new contract and look forward to seeing all the fans in the new stadium next season.”
“My goal is to play my entire career for Tottenham. We have a fantastic team, a great coach, a professional training centre and we’re getting a new stadium. At the moment, everything suits me here and I’m happy.”
“I want to become a club legend. You are always going to face pressure in football. But I’m very strong-minded and I know what I want to achieve and taking that No10 shirt was just another part of that. I was a fan. Tottenham fans see me as ‘one of their own’ and that is genuinely a good feeling.” August 2015
“I close my eyes and I picture myself lifting the Premier League trophy at our new stadium with my mates. I’d trade the next 100 goals for that feeling.”
“When I was growing up, Keane and Sheringham were my idols and they wore 10. So it was always my dream to wear it.”
“I went to see England against Switzerland at Wembley with my dad and brother. That was in 2008, Fabio Capello’s first game in charge. Jermaine Jenas scored and we won 2-1. I remember the national anthem was incredible. I sang it with pride – always do.”
What he might achieve yet
• Jermain Defoe is Spurs’ all-time leading marksman in UEFA club competitions with 23 goals. Kane has 19 to his name and will want to overhaul Defoe and second-placed Martin Chivers (22) in the near future.
• Kane is up to sixth in Tottenham’s all-time scorers chart with 140 goals but has already set his sights on Jimmy Greaves’ club record of 266. “His achievements at Spurs and his goals for club and country are certainly things I aspire to,” he said.
• There are 33 players above Kane on the list of England’s all-time top scorers but his current international strike rate – better than a goal every two games – suggests the Tottenham ace can pick off plenty of those above him. Kane’s 13 goals have been scored in just over three years – should the 24-year-old continue to be as prolific, then Wayne Rooney’s record of 53 would not be beyond the realms of possibility.
• Kane is already 22nd on the list of all-time top Premier League scorers with 108 goals; a fifth straight 20+ haul in 2018/19 would take him up to at least 13th position. Shearer leads the way with 260, with Rooney second on 208.
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