T
he Europa League may
have yet to find a place in
the hearts of most football
supporters, but the unloved
competition has helped Tottenham
Hotspurtounearththeir brightest
young star for many years.
Back in August, Crystal Palace
were among the clubs who enquired
about taking Harry Kane on loan for the
season. He had already spent time out at
four other English league clubs and was
making slow but steady progress to the
fringes of Spurs’ first team.
New head coach Mauricio
Pochettino blocked the request.
The Argentinian had arrived from
Southampton with a reputation for
blooding youth-team products. But
he was reluctant to use Kane in Premier
League games; instead, he wanted to
see how Kane and other youngsters
performed on Thursday nights in Europe.
Fast-forward six months and
21-year-old Kane has made the rapid
transition from Europa League hopeful
to Premier League starter.
By the start of November 2014,
Pochettino was still yet to be convinced
that Kane should start ahead of regular
strikers Roberto Soldado and Emmanuel
Adebayor, and the youngster had made
only five Premier League appearances,
all as substitute. But then he was given
the chance to start – and to score.
Having scored freely in the cup,
Kane finally began to find the net in the
Premier League, and by March 2015 he
had scored 24 goals in all competitions,
including impressive strikes in victories
over Chelsea and Arsenal.THE PLAYERS
The plaudits have come thick and
fast. Les Ferdinand, having observed
Kane at close quarters, believes “he
can go right to the top. I would compare
his football intelligence with Teddy
Sheringham and his finishing with Alan
Shearer. Like Alan, Harry has real power
in his shooting and heading.”
Ferdinand has watched
Kane develop from a
skinny teenager to a
physically imposing
centre-forward. “I
worked with Harry
when he was a
young lad and