Harry Kane scored his first Premier League hat-trick against a Leicester City side who fought valiantly on Saturday afternoon.
There were many people, myself included, who thought Harry Kane was never going to be good enough to make it at the top level. These opinions were made due to uninspiring loan spells at Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich City and his latest victims Leicester City. Even the Spurs fans were not convinced: former Spurs boss Tim Sherwood revealed this week that they tried to get rid of him last January.
“It’s great I resisted the temptation to get rid of him last January because perhaps he wouldn’t be the star he is for Tottenham. There were people at club who wanted to bring in another striker and sacrifice Harry Kane. I wouldn’t allow that to happen. He got his opportunity and now he’s bouncing forward”
Kane’s hat-trick takes his total for the season to 29 goals in all competitions and fires him to the top of the Barclays Premier League scoring charts with 19, overtaking Diego Costa and Sergio Aguero, who cost Chelsea and Manchester City £32 and £38 million respectively.
Is Harry Kane the real deal?
He hasn’t proven it definitively yet, but Kane has been a breath of fresh air in the Premier League this season. His nineteen goals have come in just 26 games and he has also created 20 goalscoring opportunities for his team-mates. His versatility is something to be admired: Kane has played up front on his own, alongside a strike partner, in the number ten role and at times on either wing. But wherever Mauricio Pochettino has asked the 21-year-old to play he has excelled, winning games for Spurs time after time.
What will take Kane to the next level?
Consistency. A one season wonder is something Kane will not want to be. Next season will be pivotal in the next stage of his development. Every defence in the league will have a plan to stop him and he will have to cope with the pressure of expectant fans, pundits and coaches alike.
Can he cope?
So far every challenge he has faced he has passed. First, he forced Pochettino to drop £26million Spaniard Roberto Soldado with match-changing performances from the bench and in the league; then he put title-chasing Chelsea to the sword on New Year’s Day, scoring two wonderful goals in a 5-3 win; and how can we forget his match-winning goal in the dying moments of the North London Derby back in February?
This past week came the reward for all his hard work; a first senior call-up to Roy Hodgson’s England squad ahead of highly rated strikers Danny Ings, Charlie Austin and Saido Berahino. Kane now has the chance to make himself known on the International stage.
Immediate Future
As for the conclusion of his season at Spurs he will hope to fire his boyhood club into the Champions League places, but this will be a tough ask with Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool all competing with Tottenham Hotspur.
Whatever Kane does on a personal level in the remaining nine games this season, there is no doubt he will be collecting the individual awards at the end of the season. But the one he wants most will without doubt be the golden boot, an award no Englishman has won since the 1999-2000 season in which Kevin Phillips scored 30 goals in 36.
