Former striker turned pundit Stan Collymore has said Tottenham Hotspur and England’s Harry Kane hasn’t “got the X-factor” to be compared with record Premier League scorer Alan Shearer, writing for The Mirror.
The Spurs star’s winner against West Brom on Sunday was Kane’s 150th goal in the Premier League. That’s an extraordinary achievement and his record is up there with some of the best players this country has seen.
Alan Shearer leads the way with 260 goals in the Premier League. Wayne Rooney is the only other player in the 200-plus club, while Andy Cole, Sergio Aguero, Thierry Henry, Robbie Fowler and ex-Tottenham star Jermaine Defoe are the only other strikers above Kane.
Frank Lampard, with 177 goals, is the only midfielder in the top ten. Almost all are labelled Premier League greats.
Kane is on course to join that list but Collymore claims the England skipper will never be on the same level as the others.
He wrote in his Mirror column: “If Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry, Andrew Cole, Robbie Fowler and Frank Lampard, who was the best goalscoring midfielder of his generation, are on the left-hand side of the top ten Premier League goalscorers of all time, I’d be putting Kane on the right-hand side alongside Jermain Defoe.
“Defoe is in the top ten because he was consistent over a number of years but we’d never talk about him with the same reverence we’d talk about the other five I’ve mentioned. And the same goes for Kane, because I just don’t think he has the same X-factor they all had.
“As for Henry, he is the best and most talented striker to have played in the Premier League. He won trophies with Arsenal and is a World Cup winner as well. Shearer ‘only’ won one trophy with Blackburn – the Premier League – but he devoured goals in a way Kane does not.”
Collymore managed to at least aim some praise in Kane’s direction.
“Kane is still only 27 and might go on to get 200-plus. He might even beat Shearer’s record of 260 one day.”
Then he took it away.
“I’m not sure he will but, even if he does, I’d still take Shearer at his best over Kane at his best any day of the week.”
Spurs fans won’t like Collymore comments
Collymore’s is a bold call and one that won’t go down well with Tottenham supporters. Kane has shown he can perform at the highest level and has helped Spurs and England win so many games in the past few years.
Trophies are the only thing keeping the Englishman away from the likes of Thierry Henry and Frank Lampard. However, Kane is still only 27 and has a lot of time to get some silverware under his belt.
If Kane stays in the Premier League until the end of his career, he is likely to break Shearer’s 260-goal record. That would be an incredible statement and Spurs fans, irrespective of what Collymore thinks, will call their striker the greatest in Premier League history.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
