Exclusive: Why Peter Crouch feared World Cup hero Harry Kane might not reach the top

Former Tottenham striker Peter Crouch has told Yahoo Sport that he feared Harry Kane would not get a chance to shine in the Spurs first team, even though he was creating a stir as he emerged through the ranks at the north London club.

Crouch was an established star at Tottenham as Kane started to make his mark in the club’s junior ranks, with loan spells at Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich and Leicester preceding his first team breakthrough at Spurs in the second half of the 2013/14 season.

Kane has gone on to become a Spurs hero and is captaining England, with Crouch telling us that the striker now favourite to win the golden boot at this summer’s World Cup finals has defied the odds to reach the top.

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“I played with Harry when he was making his way at Tottenham and you could see straight away that he had a great eye for goal,” states Crouch. “The problem is, showing promise and getting into a first team at a top Premier League club is tough now and that is where Harry has done so well.

“When he scored 30-odd goals in his first full season as a Tottenham first team player, everyone was asking whether he was a one season wonder and if he could back it up. Well, he did that again the next season and again in the two years that followed.

“Now he is doing it for England in the biggest competition of them all and it is a great story. It shows that talented English kids that have the right attitude and determination can still make it at top clubs and now we could see him winning the golden boot at this World Cup. What a story that would be.

“He has a great mentality and it has taken him a long way. He doesn’t seem to get carried away when things go badly and holds it together when he is on a good run and you can see why Spurs and England fans love it.

“We have had some great foreign players coming into the Premier League over the last few years, but fans will always prefer to support a local hero and Harry’s story shows what might be possible if a few more English kids were given their chance.”

Crouch scored for England at the 2006 World Cup finals and he is now backing Kane to carry Gareth Southgate’s men forward as they prepare for Tuesday’s game against Colombia in Moscow.

“Kane reminds me a lot of Alan Shearer,” adds Crouch. “He has that desperation to score goals and he carries himself so well on and off the pitch. He he continues scoring at his present rate, he might reset a few of Shearer’s scoring records and people thought they would never be caught.

“We are all hoping he can continue to score with England out in Russia He is our best player and teams won’t fancy playing him, so I’d love to see him win the golden boot and if he does that, England could go a long way in this World Cup.”

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