Harry Kane is up there with the best strikers in world football right now, but not everyone was convinced he would reach the very top.
Kane is already a Tottenham and England legend and needs just 17 more Premier League goals to break the 200 mark.
The 28-year-old needs just three more goals to break Wayne Rooney’s England record of 53 goals and there are sure to be plenty of milestones to his name before he hangs up his boots.
He has spent all his career with Tottenham and has indicated in the past he wants to leave, most notably last summer when Man City had bids turned down for him.
Even Bayern Munich have talked about how it would be a ‘dream’ to sign Kane following Robert Lewandowski’s departure.
It showcases his place among the elite in world football and he has continually proved people wrong.
Former England Under-21 manager Stuart Pearce was sceptical he would reach the top, especially in a national shirt.
“I think Harry Kane maximises his potential,” Pearce told talkSPORT. “I watched him as an England Under-21 manager and I thought ‘you’re not going to help me out in a year or so’.
“That’s the nature of it. I didn’t think James Milner would get senior caps when he was working with myself at the Under-21 level.
“Brilliant lad, brilliant professional. Maximises his potential and has 40-odd caps in his case.
“They have got my utter respect, Harry Kane especially. They have maximised every ounce they have got because they are ultimate professionals.”
Pearce was not the only one who underestimated Kane, as Harry Redknapp and Barry Hearn also had their doubts.
The striker went on loan to Leyton Orient in the 2010/11 season, playing 18 times and scoring five goals.
Hearn proceeded to tell Redknapp that he did not think Kane would make it.
“No, I could see him becoming a good player,” Redknapp told the Daily Star. “But I’d be lying if I said I saw the best centre-forward in the world. I loaned him out to get some experience.
“I think it’s quite interesting because Barry Hearn who was the chairman of Leyton Orient, great guy, he rang me one day when I was at Tottenham and asked if I’d loan him any players.
“At the time Leyton Orient, they were bottom of the league, had no money to pay their wages so I sent them three kids. I sent over Harry Kane, Andros Townsend and Ryan Mason.
“He said after their spell that the other two, Mason and Townsend were brilliant and the one that had the least chance of making it was Kane. I saw Harry as a player that could make a good living out of the game, that was it at the time.
“He went to Leicester on loan, but couldn’t get a kick. Went to Millwall, he went everywhere at the time.”
Redknapp added: ”He had this attitude, he wanted to do it. Train, live right, practice, just wanted to be a player and it paid off. He deserves all the credit in the world.”
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