Last week, Spanish newspaper Marca ran a poll asking Real Madrid supporters which player they wanted as their next ‘Galactico’ signing.The list featured some of European football’s biggest names including Kylian Mbappe, Robert Lewandowski, Paulo Dybala and even Neymar.However, it was Tottenham’s Harry Kane who topped the list, picking up 34 per cent of the vote.It’s now clear that Kane, who broke Alan Shearer’s record for most Premier League goals in a calendar year last week, is widely regarded as one of the best - if not *the* best - number nines in world football right now by fans across the world.The magnificent performances he’s produced for Spurs over the past few seasons haven’t gone unnoticed by football fans outside of Britain.Most people would now agree that Kane falls into the ‘world-class’ category.He would walk into most - if not all - of the big teams’ starting line-ups and would command a fee similar to the £200 million Paris Saint-Germain paid Barcelona for Neymar last summer if Spurs decided to cash in.
Collymore: Why Kane is NOT world class
However, in his column for the Mirror today, former Premier League striker Stan Collymore has raised eyebrows by arguing his belief that Kane is NOT world class.
Allow him to explain…
“Harry Kane has been exceptional in 2017 – a top-level striker with a wonderful attitude who has scored a shedload of goals,” Collymore writes. “An amazing 39 in the Premier League for Tottenham, to be precise, eclipsing Alan Shearer’s previous best of 36, set with Blackburn in 1995.
“But, just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so, too, is world class.
“And I’m afraid I still can’t put the Tottenham and England man in that bracket yet.
“I reserve that for Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Neymar and Robert Lewandowski, players who have consistently scored goals in the biggest of games – and Kane hasn’t done yet.
“What he has done is score a lot of goals in the Premier League, albeit a Premier League that I don’t think is great, and, on numbers alone, I can’t put him into that highest category.”
Collymore: What I expect to see from Kane
He continued: “What I want to see from Kane now are the goals that make the difference in the biggest of matches.
“I want to see him tailoring something for his team when it’s 0-0 and late in the game against Manchester City, United, Arsenal or Chelsea.
“I want to see him drop a shoulder and curl one in from 18 yards late on against Juventus in the next round of the Champions League to see Spurs to the quarter-finals.
“Should he do that and then go on to win the Golden Boot – or get close to it – at the World Cup, then I can start to reassess.
“But, right now, he’s not there.”
Collymore would take Mbappe over Kane
Collymore then went on to explain that if he was managing a team in the Champions League or World Cup finals and could choose between Kane or Mbappe, he would opt for the young French forward, claiming: “Mbappe has more in his armoury to get himself out of situations.”
He added: “Now it seems we have to call somebody “world-class”, which is why Kane is being heralded.
“He is a wonderful striker, but Lewandowski has done it in the latter stages of the Champions League.
“Messi, Ronaldo and Neymar have scored dozens of goals in the most important games on the planet.
“These are the steps he now needs to take if he really wants to be feted in the same way as that quartet.”
Twitter rips into Collymore
Fair play to Collymore for giving his honest opinion but most football fans on Twitter reckons he’s talking complete nonsense…
Is Stan Collymore right about Harry Kane? Have your say by leaving a comment below.