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Throughout his career the striker has worked hard, on and off the pitch, to improve his game

Harry Kane is living proof that hard work pays off. Injury permitting, he will be England’s main hope for goals in Russia this summer in what will be the next stage in a flourishing career that has seen the 24-year-old striker defy his critics in spectacular style. 

As a skinny teenager in Tottenham Hotspur’s youth ranks, many at the club doubted he could make it as a professional. But after knuckling down and learning his craft on loan at lower-league clubs Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich City and Leicester City, Kane returned to Spurs and edged aside established centre-forwards Emmanuel Adebayor and Roberto Soldado. 

Harry Redknapp was Spurs’ manager when Kane was first sent out on loan rather than be given a chance in the first team. “We had him as a youngster and let him go out on loan a few times because we thought that was what he needed,” recalls Redknapp. “He has turned out really well. He’s not a ‘big-time Charlie’, he wants to works at his game, wants to practise and wants to be a proper player.”