SBOTOP Premier League betting odds aren’t available for top scorers but you can be sure that, if they were, this guy would be an absolute shoo-in.
So, when asked to focus on one man, the timing of the request made this piece extremely straightforward.
Step forward the Premier League’s own Harry Houdini – the Spurs and England captain Harry Kane who has just become a record-breaker for club and is one goal away from also becoming a record-breaker for country.
Now do I think Kane is better than the men he has surpassed and about to surpass in those respective charts respectively (Jimmy Greaves and Wayne Rooney)?
Indeed, does it matter what this SBOTOP writer believes. Of course, it doesn’t.
For what it’s worth, I am of the opinion the late Greaves is the greatest striker English football has ever produced and his tally of 266 goals in 379 games in a Spurs shirt – interspersed between spells at Chelsea and West Ham (including 30 or so fewer penalties than Kane) – will probably never be beaten.
Kane made his Spurs debut in 2011 and has played 416 times for the club.
Likewise, for me, neither Rooney nor Kane’s achievements, while superb, are quite as impressive as Sir Bobby Charlton whose 49 international goals came as a midfielder (Kane and Rooney have 53 apiece).
Again, though, does this really matter for all the aforementioned are footballing greats in their own way and Kane should be lauded as such.
He described the moment he scored his 267th goal for his boyhood club on Sunday – a 1-0 victory over reigning champions Manchester City – as a ‘dream come true’ and few would begrudge him that accolade.
The stats suggest there are plenty more Premier League highlights to come as well.
In fact, if he stays injury-free, would you bet against Kane – who has become the third player to reach 200 Premier League goals, after Alan Shearer and Rooney – adding that record to his tally too.
Kane also deserves respect for staying loyal to his club.
Yes, he did have his head turned by City in the summer of 2021 but that’s hardly any wonder given the lack of support he must have felt the club was receiving from chairman Daniel Levy.
As former Spurs man Garth Crooks outlined this week, there is a certain irony attached to Kane’s accomplishment.
His record goal was scored against City, a side he almost joined. Had he done so, he wouldn’t have achieved the historic feat, but he would almost certainly have one hand on a Premier League title and be eyeing a Champions League success – perhaps the price you pay when you pursue records and not trophies.
On saying that, he came within a penalty shoot-out of being only the second player to lead his country to a major tournament success 18 months ago.
So, what happens now?
Well, Kane stays in North London for the rest of his top flight career of course.
At 29 he is believed to be open to extending his deal, provided certain conditions are met, and only last month confirmed he would hold talks “over the coming months” when heh again reiterated his ambition to win trophies in north London.
The final word comes from the Independent newspaper which observed it is true that very few footballers have had such an illustrious career without actually winning a trophy.
Yet the misunderstanding is that this somehow dilutes Kane’s achievements.
In reality it makes them more impressive.
Here is a man who has performed to a relentlessly high level while playing for Spurs and England, two teams with little history of success in modern times.
He is a true Premier League star.
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