Everybody was hesitant to get overly excited about Harry Kane last season, as we have seen plenty of one season wonders in the Premier League. Michu and Amr Zaki anyone? However, the Spurs striker has shown himself to be so much more and he could be the best striker this country has produced since Wayne Rooney. Tottenham have needed a striker for a long time, and for once, Daniel Levy’s reluctance to part with money has paid dividends as it allowed Kane to get his chance in the first team. If the club had spent big on a top European striker as the fans were demanding, Spurs and England may have never seen the best of Harry Kane.
The forward had a slow start to his career and failed to make a real impact during any of his Football League loans. He was played out of position at Leicester and it was clear that the player himself was having doubts about whether he would make it at the top level. Kane then returned to Spurs and was a back up member of the squad during the 2013-14 season, grabbing four goals in all competitions. There was no sign of him being a potential regular goalscorer in the top flight until the final months of 2014, when his European form secured him as the club’s number one striker and he hasn’t looked back since.
Harry Kane has hit 42 goals in the last two seasons, proving that he can be a regular goalscorer in the top flight. This is the same amount of goals as Sergio Aguero, who is generally agreed to be the best forward in the league. Kane is superior than Aguero in terms of chances created over the two seasons, supplying chances for his team-mates on 64 occasions, while Aguero has created ‘just’ 44 chances. The Argentinian does have double the amount of assists than Kane in the league since the start of the 2014/15 season with ten. A major part of Kane’s success is his ability to hit the target when chances come his way. His shooting accuracy over the last two seasons is fractionally above 60%, compared to Aguero who hits the target 54% of the time.
The above stats reflect just how good Harry Kane has been since breaking into the Tottenham side. He has gone from being a young player, who wasn’t highly rated in the game, to matching the performance of Aguero, who is considered to be world class by most. Sometimes players get overhyped by the English media too soon, as is being seen at the moment with Marcus Rashford. However, Kane’s performances over the last two years is still overlooked by some. It is refreshing to see an English young player back up a good start with consistency, and he could grow even more with experience.
The next 12 months will show where Harry Kane belongs, whether he is in the top tier of strikers, or if the Premier League is his limit. He will play in both the European Championships and the Champions League in that time. If he continues to score goals at the higher level, then he could develop into one of the best strikers we have ever developed, and a move to one of the biggest clubs in the world won’t be beyond him. Gareth Bale quickly emerged as a world class player at White Hart Lane, and now he is the most successful Brit to have played in La Liga and has a Champions League medal at Real Madrid. There is no reason why Harry Kane couldn’t follow a similar path. Although Spurs fans will be hoping that their club can grow at the same rate as Kane and keep him for the long term, something they couldn’t manage with Bale.
There is no doubt that Harry Kane has proven himself to be the best English striker over the last two years and for that reason, he should lead the line this summer. England and Spurs now have a genuine top quality striker, they must harness him in the most effective way possible, something that England especially have struggled with when it comes to other top players.
2 La Liga titles and 2 Champions League titles puts McManaman in pole position not Bale.