Should anyone ever claim that Harry Kane hasn’t given Tottenham Hotspur outstanding service this past decade, their opinion should be deemed delusional.
After growing up just 15 minutes from White Hart Lane, Kane first broke into the first team in the summer of 2011 and after a series of loan stints elsewhere he has gone on to almost single-handedly prop up his boyhood club’s Premier League top four odds, scoring 280 goals in 435 appearances and smashing all manner of records in the process.
In six of his nine seasons since establishing himself as Spurs’ talismanic frontman he has notched 20+ league goals, remarkably either scoring or assisting 41.4% of his club’s league haul in that time.
He has won the Golden Boot on three occasions, being awarded the Playmaker of the Season merit in 2021 for good measure after conjuring up 14 assists. Fives times over, he has been included in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year.
Most tellingly of all, last March he overtook the legendary Jimmy Greaves to become Tottenham’s all-time record goal-scorer.
His importance therefore to a side that repeatedly knocked on the door of greatness under Mauricio Pochettino without ever entering, and has since stopped knocking altogether, cannot be under-estimated.
Indeed, given their sustained struggles post-Poch, missing out on Champions League football three times in recent campaigns, it begs the question, where would Tottenham be without their reliably arch finisher?
It is a query that may soon be answered with Kane strongly being linked with a move to Bayern Munich.
Last week, the German giants’ honourary president Uli Hoeness stated Die Bayern were confident of a deal being reached after holding positive talks with both the striker and his agent brother and though a fee has yet to be agreed upon – and going off reports, Spurs and Bayern remain some distance apart – this feels very different to two summers back, when Manchester City were chasing the England star’s prized signature.
❌ “Harry Kane has 30 Premier League goals this season & no one is talking about him.”
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) May 28, 2023
👀 “If he was playing for Man City, he’d get the goal scoring record.”
Jason Cundy hails @HKane’s ‘insane’ record & calls him one of the best in the world pic.twitter.com/5lz0VgQaRc
Back then, it felt like Kane was conflicted, wanting to move for an increased chance of glory, but tethered by a sense of loyalty and a desperate desire not to taint his legacy in North London.
After a further two seasons without a trophy to his name, are those emotions still so piqued? Let’s hope not, and that is said without having a dog in the fight.
That’s because, for all of the optimism that is currently rife at Spurs, with much talk of a fresh start and new direction under Ange Postecoglou, their starting point is so far removed from the main title contenders as to make any suggestion they might seriously challenge a far-fetched proposition.
Once again, their Premier League odds have them down as top four shouts while the attaining of Champions League football twelve months down the line will be viewed as a success.
But will that be enough for Kane, a world class talent who turns 30 at the end of this month? A world class talent who should be facing continental fare midweek as the norm, and all while hunting down two or three trophies per year.
Instead, his is a cabinet resplendent with honours all of which are individual ones - his goals tally is exceptional and Alan Shearer's Premier League record is in his sights.
It is a discrepancy that will likely be resolved in the short-term, beginning with a blockbuster switch to a European behemoth who wins silverware by the bucketful.
Frankly, it will be about time too.
