How Erik ten Hag can turn Harry Kane from elite to an all-time striker

Guest publication by Ben Dixon.

Harry Kane requires very little introduction.

The Tottenham Hotspur striker and current England captain has continued to evolve himself as a player whilst staying very grounded as a person, something which needs to be a key factor in this stage of recruitment so as not to have another Cristiano Ronaldo-esque fallout.

Manchester United, debatably, haven’t had a prominent striker who fans adored and who took the club to the ‘next level’ for a while. Potentially, you could argue a case for Cristiano Ronaldo fitting that description during his short second spell at the club, but he wasn’t his former self and the relationship soured quickly into his second season, with both fans and the manager.

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Kane has been an elite striker for years now, only scoring less than 21 goals in the Premier League three times in his last nine seasons – and in two of those seasons, Kane played nine and ten fewer games than the season’s course due to injury.

This season the 29-year-old has averaged 0.75 goals per 90 (and exceeding this xG per 90 by 0.15), further showing the elite level of finishing he possesses.

His goals aren’t the only impressive factor in his game. Kane has excelled when dropping deeper too, into the ‘second striker role’ so to speak, something that was especially noticeable in his time under José Mourinho – although has seen a somewhat drop off during this season, likely due to his role differing under Antonio Conte.

This being said though, Kane has still averaged 0.13 xA per 90 minutes, which puts him in the top half of players in the league – yet he makes 1.53 key passes per 90; something that puts him in the top 20% of players in the league, an impressive feat in itself.

However, under Ten Hag, this would expectedly increase significantly, which could create a different breed of monster striker for teams to deal with due to the attacking fluidity and flexibility that players such as Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes possess.

This would then turn Harry Kane from an elite-level striker to an all-time Premier League great, further cementing his legacy within the Premier League Hall of Fame.

With Spurs’ Champions League hopes under scrutiny due to their difficult run-in towards the end of the season and teams both below them having games in hand, it could play a part in pushing the third-highest goal scorer in Premier League history away from the North London outfit.

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Kane currently sits on 206 Premier League goals, 54 away from Alan Shearer’s record, and with the Englishman only 29, it would be a more than achievable feat for him to break that record, with his internal debate likely to be down to one key question: will he break it in London, or shatter it in Manchester?

At a rumoured price of only £80 million, Kane possibly offers the best possible value for the club, in terms of a pound-for-pound striker, especially given he likely has another 3-4 years at the very peak of his game.