Harry Kane
Harry Kane - From Boy Wonder To Club Legend
As the puns surrounding his name suggest, Harry Kane’s rise to prominence has been a whirlwind of one mind-blowing achievement after another.
In 2014, if someone would have bet 10,000 pounds that Harry Kane would turn out to be one of the most feared strikers in the world, I would have called them crazy. Fast forward to the present; It is evident that I was gravely mistaken.
Nicknamed "The HurriKane" for his unbelievable goal-scoring prowess, Kane has consistently performed at his peak with Tottenham in the English top-flight, single-handedly changing the course of games. He was and will be crucial for the club if they were to challenge any of the trophies.
Let us take a better look at this beast of a player.
The Chubby Days
Born and raised in the London borough of Waltham Forest, Kane has football in his blood, with his maternal grandfather playing the game at a respectable level. He played football from the tender age of six, joining a local club, Ridgeway Rovers, in 1999. He admires Spurs' legend Teddy Sheringham the most and considers him his idol.
He joined the Arsenal youth academy in 2001 but was released after a year owing to his "chubby" personality and "not-so-athletic" shape. He then signed for Watford and moved to Tottenham after an impressive performance against the Spurs' youth team. As a player, Kane did not stand out in his early days because of his physical attributes. A few years later, a sudden growth spurt made him taller and physically strong and, there was no looking back ever since.
Football Across The Country
Initially, Kane played as a holding midfielder for the Spurs' youth team before moving into an attacking midfield role. In 2011, he moved to Leyton Orient FC as part of a loan. The loan spells continued as the seasons progressed. He represented Milwall in 2012, Norwich City in 2012-13 and, Leicester City for a brief period in 2013, scoring an impressive 27 goals during this time.
In the 2013-14 season, Kane was back with the Tottenham first team and scored his first goal for the club against Hull City in a League Cup tie. On 7 April 2014, he made his first start for the Spurs' in a Premier League fixture against Sunderland and scored his first league goal. Little did the world know that this was the start of something magnificent.
Beast Mode On
Harry Kane truly burst onto the scene in the 2014-15 season, garnering interest from all the big clubs in the world. He made 51 appearances for the club during the season, scoring 31 goals and assisting six times. He was the first player since Gary Lineker in 1991-92 to register more than 30 goals for the club. Kane went on to win the PFA Young Player of the Year award and was part of the PFA Team of the Year.
The kind of goals he was scoring left many football fans and pundits awestruck and dumb-founded, leading to the belief that he was not lasting long, labelling him a "one-season wonder." That opinion was quashed and thrown into a dump pretty much as quickly as it came, the reason being Kane's performances.
In the following two seasons, Tottenham performed at their peak, giving a tough fight for the Premier League title, helped by Kane's otherworldly goals. In the 2015-16 season, Kane scored 25 goals and won the golden boot for the first time in his career, and also had three Premier League Player of the Month awards to his name.
He continued his red-hot form to the next season, scoring 29 goals in 30 Premier League appearances. He won his second golden boot in as many seasons and helped Tottenham finish as Premier League runners-up. Kane joined the ranks of legendary players like Thierry Henry, Alan Shearer and, Ruud van Nistelrooy, scoring 20+ goals in three consecutive seasons, becoming the fourth player to achieve the feat.
Goals Galore and Trophy Drought
In 2017-18, Kane continued his rampage, scoring an unbelievable 30 Premier League goals, losing out the golden boot to Liverpool winger Mohamed Salah with his record-breaking 32 goals. With a total of 56 goals in all competitions, Kane emerged as Europe's top goal-scorer for the year 2017, ending the seven-year dominance of the legends Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Achieving the above feat proves the volume of his quality.
In the following year, Kane helped Tottenham reach the UEFA Champions League Final, which they eventually lost against Liverpool.
Even though Kane was firing on all cylinders for the club, the team could not win any trophies. They came agonizingly close to winning the League Cup twice, more recently losing the final against Manchester City in April 2021. These near-misses coupled with a Premier League runner-up finish and a Champions League runners-up finish are what he could achieve with the team. No matter how much calibre a player could possess, they want to win titles at the end of the day.
For someone of his ability, he certainly has to bag some trophies. Whether he stays in Tottenham for the rest of his career remains to be seen.
Representing England
During his youth years, Kane represented England football team starting from the U-17 level before making his senior debut in 2015 against Lithuania in a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match. In June 2017, he captained England for the first time in their 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Scotland.
In his 53 appearances for the country, Kane scored an impressive 34 goals. His killer instinct came into effect in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, when he scored six goals and won the Golden Boot, the first player to win it since Gary Lineker in the 1986 tournament.
England marched to the semi-finals for the first time since 1990 and, everyone thought 'the cup was coming home.' After Kieran Trippier's perfect free-kick, the belief strengthened even further. However, the tables turned and, Croatia ended up winning 2-1. At a particular point in the match, Kane received a lot of flak from the people of England for not squaring the ball to Sterling when he had a clear chance to score.
Nevertheless, for his contributions to English football, Kane was bestowed 'The Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)' by the Queen of England.
The Current Season
In June 2020, Kane made his 200th appearance for the club. In the 2020-21 season, he stepped on the gas and quite literally levelled up. So far, we saw Kane the prolific number 9 but, this season, we were fortunate enough to witness breathtaking goal creation from the 27-year-old. His link-up play with Heung Min-Son entered a whole new dimension, with the pair sharing 36 goals and 22 assists between them.
Kane is leading both the goal scorers and assisters leaderboard with 21 goals and 13 assists, respectively. He is his most dangerous self this season but, these efforts do not reflect Tottenham's current form. They are currently struggling to finish in the Europa League spots.
The Status of A Club Legend
Harry Kane represented The Lilywhites in 331 matches, having scored an astounding 219 goals and assisted 46 times. He is currently second in Tottenham's all-time top goalscorers list, only behind the legendary Spurs striker Jimmy Greaves. If he were to stay a season or two more at the club, he is sure to break Greaves' record as well.
Harry Kane has come a long way from being a chubby Arsenal reject, transforming himself into one of the world's best strikers. He has already established himself as one of the club's legends with the records he broke. Whether he would leave the Spurs in search of trophies or whether he would stay loyal and turn into another Francesco Totti of AS Roma is a thought that always lingers in the footballing world. Irrespective of the situation, 'The HurriKane' is always raring to go. Scoring goals, breaking records and, obliterating anything that comes in its way.
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