Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Harry Kane was so desperate to play for Arsenal, he asked to be a keeper, but I had to tell him he wasn’t good enough...
MENTOR ON HOW GUNNERS SNUBBED A GOAL-MACHINE
HARRY KANE was once so desperate to play for Arsenal that he offered to go in goal for the Gunners.
The Tottenham and England captain, who has this season become record goalscorer for both club and country, was an Arsenal fan as a kid and spent four years with the club’s youth set-up.
He was 12 when assistant academy manager Roy Massey told the budding striker that he was not good enough to make the grade as a No.9.
But Massey was so impressed when Kane’s dad Pat informed him that his son felt he might have a future saving goals, rather than scoring them, that he gave the determined youngster a chance to impress between the sticks.
Massey helped to develop talents such as Bukayo Saka, Jack Wilshere, Emile Smith Rowe, Alex Iwobi, Wojciech Szczesny, Josh Dasilva and Joe Willock during his 16 years with the Gunners.
He recalled: “When I see Harry now, I can’t help but to think back to when he was a starry-eyed 12-year-old.
“He was sat with his mum and dad in my office as I told him he wasn’t quite up to the standard we were looking for.
“That was the hardest part of the job, telling lads that Arsenal were letting them go.
“Next thing,
Harry’s dad came back in and told me he now wants to be a goalkeeper – and I thought the least I could do was to send him to work with our keeper coach Alex Welch.
“Alex was one of the best in the business and, after just a few sessions he told me, ‘Roy, the lad is never going to make the grade in goal’, so this time Harry had to move on.
“I know how much it hurt him. Some lads are lost to the game for ever because they can’t get over the disappointment.
“But Harry took my words as a challenge. He went back to playing for his
Sunday League team for the next three years and then signed for Spurs.
“I’m an Arsenal man through and through. But
Harry Kane’s perseverance is a credit to him and his family.”
Massey, now 79, has written a book about his life in football, which saw him emerge as a promising centre-forward good enough to play for Arsenal’s A team before taking up a teaching career, while continuing to score goals for Rotherham and
Leyton Orient.
His love affair with coaching started at Colchester and took him to Norwich before Arsenal legend Liam Brady invited him to be his assistant in Arsenal’s academy in 1998.
Kevin De Bruyne was another future superstar who slipped through the Gunners’ net when the shy Belgian youngster had a trial with the club during a trip to London to visit his mother’s family.
But Massey earned his keep all right. Many of the players who came through the system starred for former boss Arsene Wenger – or were sold off at a hefty profit. And he takes as much satisfaction from seeing the Under-18 team coached by former England midfielder Wilshere reach the FA Youth Cup Final as he does from watching Saka, Smith Rowe, Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson playing their part in trying to win Arsenal’s first Premier League title in 19 years under Mikel Arteta.
Massey said: “Arsenal have always been committed to producing their own talent and, when I played for the A team, there were six or seven lads who played in the Double-winning side of 1971.
“They are playing some lovely football under Mikel this season and, if they can get over the line and win the title, of course, I’d take some pride from it – but so should everyone else who played their part in helping Bukayo, Emile, Eddie and Reiss get where they are.
“I am also thrilled to see what Jack is doing with the youth team.
“He would have been a world-class player but for injury and I hope that one day he goes on to take over from Mikel.”
MIKEL ARTETA claims Arsenal aces Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli must win trophies – and loads – to be the best wingers on the planet.
The stats across the European leagues over the last nine months suggest the dynamic duo are as good as anybody in the business. Right-winger Saka has rattled in 12 goals and created 10 for Arteta’s Premier League leaders, while Martinelli, on the left, has scored 14 times, with four assists. Impressive numbers that compare well with Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo in La Liga or, closer to home, Manchester City’s Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez. However, one person who disagrees England ace Saka and Brazil counterpart Martinelli are already among the game’s current great wide stars is Arteta himself.
In fact, when asked if his pair are on a par with that elite list, he dismissed the notion out of hand.
‘Impossible’ was the gist of his reply, because they have no winners’ medals.
Laying down the challenge to both, ahead of today’s trip to West Ham, Arteta (right) said: “No, you have to win a lot. My players know that.
“And after winning, they have to win again. And, after winning again, they have to win... again and again and again. This is what these other guys have been doing for a such long time.”
In the City dugout, as Pep Guardiola’s assistant, Arteta had two title triumphs, and won the Scottish title as a player with Glasgow Rangers 20 years ago on the final day with a goal difference of ONE.
And Rangers’ crucial last strike was a penalty – hammered home by Arteta. So how did he keep his cool and can Arsenal do something similar if the race goes to the wire?
Arteta said: “My players are much better than me – so I’m convinced they would shoot better. “I had a chance to take the penalty and it went well. Those are the risks and rewards when you make big decisions in important moments.”