Former Arsenal youth coach reveals how he reacted when Spurs first signed Harry Kane
Former Arsenal academy coach Dan Buck admitted that he did not think Harry Kane had what it took to become a professional footballer, revealing that...
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Former Arsenal academy coach Dan Buck admitted that he did not think Harry Kane had what it took to become a professional footballer, revealing that he was shocked when Tottenham picked him up.
While Kane has been with Tottenham’s academy since the age of 11, it is well documented that he spent a brief period in the Arsenal youth set-up beforehand, with the Gunners opting to release him.
It certainly was not obvious during the striker’s younger days that he was going to evolve into the world-class talent that he became.
In fact, even at Tottenham, Kane was not really considered the best player in his age group and the chances of him making it at the club seemed slim after he struggled during his loan spells in the Championship and League One.
Harry Kane surprised people with his rise to success
However, once he got an opportunity for the first team, he never looked back, going to break Jimmy Greaves’ all-time goal record for the Lilywhites.
When asked about his experience working with Kane in youth football, Buck has now told The Athletic: “Around that time, I went to do some coaching at Spurs. When Harry left Arsenal, I never heard of him again.
“But then one of the scouts at Spurs said, ‘You worked with Harry Kane at Arsenal, didn’t you? We’ve just signed him’. I was really surprised, because when I’d seen him he was really, really struggling.”
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Kane’s career is proof that player development trajectories are often not linear and that some are early bloomers while others develop quite late. That is perhaps why it is not wise to write off the likes of Dane Scarlett just because they had one or two poor loan spells.
The post Former Arsenal youth coach reveals how he reacted when Spurs first signed Harry Kane appeared first on The Spurs Web - Tottenham Hotspur Football News.