Harry Kane has shot to the top of the Premier League scoring charts, after netting four times in Tottenham’s 6-1 rout of reigning champions Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.
The 23-year-old became just the 33rd player in Premier League history to score four goals in a game, and has now scored 26 league goals this season.
Having won the Golden Boot award last season, with 25 goals, Kane is in pole position to defend his crown, sitting two goals clear of Everton’s Romelu Lukaku.
The England international is the fifth player to score 25 goals in consecutive campaigns, joining Robbie Fowler, Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry and Robin Van Persie as the only players to do so.
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What’s more, Kane was sidelined with multiple ankle injuries that kept him out of eight league games in September and March, but still he managed to score 32 goals in all competitions – his best return in a single season.
It begs the question, would Spurs have won the league if Kane was fit all year?
As of March 2017, with Kane in the side, Tottenham have scored 2.2 goals per game, while averaging 2.0 points. On the other hand, without Kane, they only managed 1.6 goals and 1.8 points.
These statistics don’t prove Spurs would have won the league if Kane wasn’t injured, but it certainly would have made the title race far more interesting.
What they do prove, is that Harry Kane is England’s best centre forward at the moment.
In a season which has seen compatriots Wayne Rooney and Daniel Sturridge decline, the path is clear for Kane to take over as England’s number 9 for the foreseeable future.
With the ageing Jermain Defoe, teenager Marcus Rashford and Leicester title hero Jamie Vardy the only other viable forward options for England manager Gareth Southgate, Kane may well find himself baring the weight of a nation come next year’s World Cup.
Back to the present, in a season where the Premier League title has already been decided, Kane has the chance to give Spurs fans something to cheer about if he successfully defends the Golden Boot.
Should he maintain this advantage, Kane will be the first Spurs player to win the award in back-to-back seasons.
Quite frankly, he deserves it.
Ed Nixon
Roar Pro
Llorente may be a good option, and he may be more willing to leave now he has helped keep Swansea up. There were talks of him heading to Chelsea as a back up to Costa but decided to stay put in Wales to keep them away from relegation. I'd personally like to see Defoe head back to West Ham, but a reunion with Spurs can't be ruled out. Spurs have lacked that bench support, and I thought Janssen would have more of an impact this season, but he is still 22 and will be a good talent to have I'm sure.
Ed Nixon
Roar Pro
Still one more round of fixtures to go so anything can happen! I agree though, Chelsea won't want that 100m price tag going up even more!
David McDaniel
Roar Pro
I am kind of glad as I didn't want Lukaku to get it, it would have bumped up his price!
The Doc
Roar Guru
Kane had another brilliant year and his records holds up with the best strikers in Europe. I think Spurs would have gotten closer if they had not lost Kane. Our run of draws after we beat city early in the season cost us badly and from memory Kane was out during that period. But as I was afraid of, pinning your hopes on one man is always fraught with danger and although we picked up Janssen in the offseason as back up for Kane, expecting him to settle in the EPL straight away was fanciful. I always felt we should have picked up an older proven back up striker e.g. Llorente, Remy, Defoe who could provide instant goals in the event of a Kane injury