Jermain Defoe believes that Tottenham missed a trick by not promoting Harry Kane sooner from the academy to the first team.
Bournemouth striker Defoe is a big favourite at Spurs after making 358 appearances for the club and he believes that 24-year-old sensation Kane could have broken into the senior team at a younger age than he did.
Kane made his first senior appearance for the North London club back in 2011 in a Europa League qualifier agent Hearts, but it wasn’t until the back end of the 2013/14 season that he became a regular first teamer.
He announced himself as a fan favourite after 31 goals in 51 games during the 2014/15 campaign, but Defoe believes that the step up could have happened ever quicker.
“I remember Harry always scoring goals in the under-21’s,” Defoe told Alan Brazil’s Sports Breakfast show on Tuesday 12th October. “Brad Friedel said that if you ever leave this football club, Harry will be the one that takes over, and I agreed. I felt he should have been involved sooner than he was, to be honest.”
Kane has now racked up 174 senior appearances for Spurs since making his breakthrough and has returned a phenomenal 110 goals.
The centre-forward is rapidly developing into one of the most feared attackers in world football and has a brilliant relationship with manager Mauricio Pochettino.
OPINION
Defoe believes that Kane could have made an impact at senior level quicker than he did at Spurs, but his career path has worked out so far. The England international is clearly a gifted finisher and is improving season after season. He may not have broken into the Spurs first team as a young teenager, but he was picking up valuable experiencing during loan spells with the likes of Leicester, Millwall and Leyton Orient. Kane has now managed to turn into a well rounded forward that can score all manner of goals and he will have picked up many tricks from his time in England’s lower leagues.