Harry Kane has been a force to reckon with ever since he made his debut for Tottenham and the Englishman claims that being released from Arsenal as a youngster was one of the main reasons for his drive to become a footballer at the top level.
The 24-year-old wrote about scoring his 100th Premier League goal for us in that crazy 2-2 draw against Liverpool, in an article for the Players’ Tribune and his thoughts were carried by the Standard.
As most of us would know by now, Kane was released from the Arsenal academy when he was only eight but that was enough to get him fired up and prove his doubters wrong.
“I remember the first time we played against Arsenal [for Tottenham’s academy team] and even back then, I had a chip on my shoulder.
“It might sound ridiculous. I was only eight when they let me go, but every time we played them, I thought, ‘Alright, we’ll see who’s right and who’s wrong’.
“Looking back on it now, [being released by Arsenal] was probably the best thing that ever happened to me because it gave me a drive that wasn’t there before. For me, the rejection is the best thing that ever happened to me.”
Kane does have a great history when facing arch-rivals Arsenal, as he scored a brace in his first senior game against the Gunners in 2015.
The leading scorer of this season’s Premier League further went on to add his feelings about scoring that brace.
“I remember walking round the pitch after the final whistle and clapping to the fans and it felt like, ‘well, I told you so’.
“We were in the tunnel, and I thought, ‘Okay took me 12 years, but we’ll see who was right and who was wrong. I scored two that day, and the winner in the 86th minute was something that I’d never even dream of visualising before a match.
“It was a header – probably the best header I’ve ever scored – and that feeling when it hit the back of the net, I’ve never felt a rush like that in my whole career.”
Kane Isn’t Going Anywhere
There have been a number of rumours suggesting that Kane would be on the move in the summer as Real Madrid have been linked with the Englishman.
But our striker has come out and stated that he wants to win the Premier League with us and that should be enough to shut those rumours up.
“I dreamed of playing for Spurs since I was a boy,” Kane added. “For a long time my motivation was simply to close my eyes and picture myself scoring against Arsenal in the Premier League.
“[I’ve] done that a few times now, and it never gets old. But now, my motivation is a bit different.
“Now, I close my eyes and I picture myself lifting the Premier League trophy at our new stadium with my mates. I’d trade the next 100 goals for that feeling.”
Well, the kind of form that Harry Kane is in, Arsenal’s weak defence might stand no chance against our talisman. We’re coming for you, Arsenal!
“It might sound ridiculous.”
No. Just shallow. To remain fixated with the maturity of an 8-year old.
jw1