Harry Kane has won the last two English Premier League Golden Boot awards. The Tottenham striker looked likely to win another this term until his latest ankle injury derailed his season. Now sidelined, Tottenham must fight for Champions League qualification and possibly a spot in the FA Cup final without him. The Tottenham news on his injury doesn’t sound good, and questions have surfaced regarding Kane’s ability to win a trophy while a member of Tottenham.
Tottenham news: Does Harry Kane need to leave Spurs to win a trophy?
Kane had been an unstoppable force in the English Premier League before his recent ankle injury. The striker’s injury was listed as a low grade ligament injury. The initial announcement meant Kane would be back for the FA Cup semifinal on April 21.
An argument recently surfaced that Kane is punching below his weight, according to Football 365. It is a compelling argument as some of Kane’s contemporaries have seen their play rewarded with trophies. Kane is the only player to score 40 or more goals in 2017 and not win a domestic or European cup.
Kane is in a rare situation. It is one in which he scores plenty of goals and leads his domestic league in scoring – at least in the last two seasons. Yet, he doesn’t see his club win a single trophy for all the goals he has scored.
When Pep Guardiola called Spurs the “Harry Kane Team”, it rubbed manager Mauricio Pochettino and supporters the wrong way. But there is some truth to Guardiola’s claim, as shown by stats. Tottenham currently sit fourth in the Premier League and Kane has tallied 24 of the team’s goals. He has registered 41% of Tottenham’s scoring in 2017-18, which is the highest percentage of any Premier League goal scorer in the top 10.
Mohamed Salah’s 28 goals have still only accounted for 38% of Liverpool’s 73 scores. Meanwhile, Sergio Aguero has registered just a quarter of Manchester City’s goals.
While Football 365 may believe Kane is punching below his weight at Tottenham, perhaps it should be stated Tottenham are punching above their weight with Kane in the side.
Of course, with Kane sidelined, Spurs are playing well with Son Hueng Min. The South Korean has shown he is a top-class player, and Son has picked up the slack in Kane’s absence. Other than Son, the likes of Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen haven’t pushed on from great seasons a year ago. Alli has failed to hit the highs of a year ago when rumours of Real Madrid wanting to sign him were rife. The midfielder has tallied six goals, 12 off of his total in 2016-17. Although scoring is down, his assists have increased.
Spurs could still win the FA Cup this term, and Kane’s great goal scoring record could be repaid with the trophy.