Amid this era of Premier League opulence, Harry Kane stands proud as a talisman for a generation of England dreamers.
At the relatively tender age of 24, Tottenham Hotspur striker Kane already has a list of accomplishments to cement his status as one of Europe’s elite strikers, with golden boots for finishing as the Premier League’s top scorer over the last two seasons backing up his position as England’s first-choice striker.
Yet peel under the surface of the Kane story and you find a tale that confirms the door to the top of the game is only ajar for those with the talent and application to take their chance when it is presented to them.
“I had setbacks, plenty of them, but I always had belief that I was going to get to where I wanted to be and that was playing for Tottenham and then England,” begins Kane.
“Even when I went out on loan to the clubs, it was always to come back and become a Spurs player. I had good loan spells at Leyton Orient and Millwall and not such a good loan with Norwich City and Leicester City. That is all part of the learning curve.
“There are blips in any career, but that is part of football and it is how you deal with it and I think I’ve dealt with it quite well. I’m sure there will be more times when I have setbacks in my career, but it’s about how you can move forward [from them].
“I think self belief is massive. If you don’t believe in yourself, not many others will. Work hard and believe in yourself and you will go as far as your body will take you.
“Clearly, it’s harder to make it through the ranks and get into the first team of a top Premier League side than it was a few years ago. There is a lot of money in football these days and you always see if a team doesn’t have an answer to a problem in their team, they just go and buy a solution.
“Sometimes young players coming through don’t get their chance because of that, but Tottenham is a bit different and the mentality at the club and with our manager is that if you are good enough, you get a chance to play.”
