I’ll take my team-mates out to dinner, says happy Harry

HARRY KANE has vowed to keep striving for goals having eclipsed Lionel Messi and Alan Shearer at the end of a record-breaking year. The 24-year-old ended 2017 with a hat-trick in Tottenham’s 5-2 win against Southampton and promised to take his team-mates out to dinner to celebrate. He has 56 goals in the calendar year, more than Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, and smashed Shearer’s record set in 1995 by scoring 39 of them in the Premier League. ‘It’s about working harder, doing more training, finding little percentages,’ said Kane when asked what is next. ‘This year I’ve improved physically and I feel really good. This is a busy period and I feel sharp and at my best. ‘The Premier League is about fine margins and anything you can do to make you better, like eating the right food, recovering right and ice baths. ‘My manager and team-mates will keep on pushing me. I told the lads before the game to set me up and they did. To get that goal early and get the record was a great feeling and I could enjoy the rest of the game. So I’ll have to take them out for dinner or something.’ Kane’s second took him clear of Messi to become the top scorer in the major European leagues in 2017. He said: ‘I’m very proud. Messi and Ronaldo have dominated for so long and are two of the world’s greatest players ever, so to be compared to them is a great feeling.’ Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino said Kane’s goal power earned him the right to be considered in the same bracket as Messi and Ronaldo. He said: ‘For the last nine years, it is always Messi and Cristiano and today it is Harry Kane. For me he is world-class. ‘It is a massive achievement and we feel it’s our achievement, something we share with his team-mates and the club.’