..and able to go on for years!
HARRY KANE claims his best is yet to come after drawing inspiration from thirtysomething goal machines Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewondowski.
The 27-year-old Three Lions and Tottenham skipper has already waged war on defenders with a goal tally that’s up there with the greats of the game.
And as the prolific striker prepares to boost his England numbers in today’s 2022 World Cup qualifier by turning over Albania in Tirana, Kane is convinced big scoring days still lie ahead.
Despite not hitting the net in his last six international outings, Kane is raring to put his troubles at
Spurs behind him in the Arena
Kombetare.
After that, he comes face to face with Lewandowski and Poland at Wembley on Wednesday.
And he admits the 32-year-old Bayern Munich hitman has shown him the pathway forward by keeping the goals flowing well into his 30s.
Prime
Kane says: “I think Lewandowski is a fantastic player. Yeah, absolutely. Incredible finisher, great movement.
“His all-round game is fantastic and you’re seeing that year on year – the goals he scores and the contributions he makes to the team.
“A lot of his goals have been in the last five years and I feel especially nowadays there is no reason you can’t be hitting your prime in your early 30s.”
Lewandowski has scored more than half his 530 career goals since his 27th birthday – and the Spurs ace wants to follow suit. “You look at Lewandowski, Ronaldo, Messi (inset, above) and you see a lot of players coming into even better form when they’re hitting their 30s,” Kane points out.
“So that’s what I want to be doing. I’m 27, still feel like I’ve got plenty more years to go to learn and improve.
“When I look at players like that it only gives me more motivation to do it as well.
“And I certainly feel like I’m in a place where I can do that, scoring and playing for hopefully many more years to come.”
Kane has had no trouble scoring for Spurs this season with 27 in 40 games.
His career tally at White Hart Lane stands at 215 goals in 327 matches with 160 coming in just 234 Premier League appearances.
Tweaking
Those are serious numbers – but as he heads to the Euro finals this summer, Kane feels he’s an even better allround player after tweaking his game to become both scorer AND provider.
“I think you could say that, yes,” he says. “I’m 27 now and I’ve had a lot of experience, time to learn and adapt my game and find things that work and those that don’t.
“You’re probably seeing an evolution of that this season.
“I feel at my best mentally in terms of where my game’s at as well as being confident on the pitch – scoring, assisting and defending.
“This year you’ve maybe seen me drop in deep more, get more assists and create more chances.
“But there were games where I was getting quite a lot of assists and goals as well in the last couple of years, especially the Euro qualifying campaign.
“I was dropping into that No.10 pocket and people like Raz Sterling, Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford were running in behind.
“We have a really good connection so, 100 per cent, with the players we have there’s no reason why I can’t create chances, get assists and help the team as much as possible.
“I’m definitely at that stage in my career now where I always feel I can have an impact on the game.
“And every time I meet up with England I’m so excited to just play with some of the best players in the world.”