Arsenal's Double Impact: How Their Rivals Fueled Harry Kane's Historic Tottenham Legacy
Ex-Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino has revealed how Arsenal's signing of Danny Welbeck during the 2014 summer transfer window enabled the Argentine tactician to place his trust in a promising Harry Kane, who subsequently became the club's record goalscorer and finest player in history.
Just as a butterfly's wing movement in one corner of the world might trigger a storm elsewhere, an injury to Olivier Giroud certainly had the power to create opportunities for Kane's emergence.
Think back to August 2014. Barack Obama remained America's commander-in-chief, Germany had just claimed World Cup glory, and virtually nobody knew who Harry Kane was. The 21-year-old had endured challenging loan periods at Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich City and Leicester City before coming back to Spurs in 2013.
André Villas-Boas attempted to arrange another temporary move for Kane, only to face firm resistance from the player. "There were several decent clubs showing interest that would have been acceptable, but that wasn't what I wanted," Kane subsequently told The Players' Tribune. "My ambition wasn't simply to compete in the Premier League. My ambition was to compete in the Premier League wearing a Spurs shirt."
Tim Sherwood succeeded Villas-Boas during the middle of the 2013–14 campaign and gave Kane his Premier League debut in April. The former Ridgeway Rovers striker justified that confidence by netting three times in three consecutive matches to close out the season.
However, when Mauricio Pochettino assumed control for the post-World Cup campaign, Tottenham had intentions to obstruct Kane's progression.
The Best Transfer Tottenham Never Made
The Best Transfer Tottenham Never Made
Pochettino emphasized the tremendous belief he and his assistant Jesús Pérez held in Kane from their arrival at Spurs. "Upon joining Tottenham, after observing Harry Kane, we declared, 'This is a player we require. He's youthful. He must remain with us,'" the Argentine manager boasted on the High Performance podcast.
According to Pochettino's account, the club didn't share their conviction and remained difficult to persuade.
"But I recall that [Emmanuel] Adebayor and [Roberto] Soldado were there, yet the club remained uncertain about Harry Kane's prospects and desired to acquire a third forward," the current U.S. men's national team manager remembered. The primary concern from Tottenham's leadership was Kane's lack of "experience" and they disregarded their manager's input to pursue Danny Welbeck, who was at Manchester United.
"Fortune smiled upon us because the club submitted a bid for Welbeck," Pochettino disclosed. "However, [Olivier] Giroud sustained an injury and Arsenal presented a superior offer, leading to Welbeck joining Arsenal."
Harry Kane's Tottenham Career
Harry Kane's Tottenham Career
Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
Joined | Aug. 16, 2004 |
Games | 435 |
Goals | 280 |
Assists | 63 |
Arsenal's primary striker Giroud fractured his foot in late August and faced three months of recovery. Despite Arsène Wenger's early claims that the Gunners wouldn't enter the transfer market for a replacement, the north London club outmaneuvered their competitors to secure Welbeck for £16 million ($26 million then) on transfer deadline day.
"[It] proved fortunate since we didn't acquire Welbeck and [there] remained room for Harry Kane," Pochettino grinned, attributing this chain of events to "universal confirmation" that Kane "possessed something special."
Despite all this alleged confidence in the youngster, Pochettino didn't include Kane in his starting eleven for any of his initial 10 Premier League games as manager. The determined striker came off the bench against Aston Villa in November and secured a 90th-minute victory with a deflected free-kick to finally earn a starting role the next weekend. Kane couldn't score in a loss to Stoke City but kept his place before finding the net in a triumph at Hull City. The remainder became legendary.
While Welbeck experienced a decent though injury-plagued stint at Arsenal, collecting 32 goals across 126 matches, Kane established himself among Europe's elite strikers—a position he maintains 12 years on.
"Nobody has influenced my career more significantly than Mauricio," Kane fondly remembered.
Kane's First Rejection By Arsenal
Kane's First Rejection By Arsenal
Arguably the best striker in the world, but Harry Kane is still criminally underrated.
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Fascinatingly, Arsenal's acquisition of Welbeck wasn't the initial occasion the Gunners influenced the development of the Tottenham icon. Kane first entered Arsenal's youth setup before being released at eight years old.
The Gunners' academy chief then, legendary former player Liam Brady, recalled Kane as "somewhat overweight" and "lacking athleticism." He also admitted: "We erred in judgment."
That early setback motivated Kane throughout the following two decades.
"In my view, the rejection became the greatest thing that occurred to me," Kane would subsequently reflect. "As I tied my boots for my inaugural north London derby start in 2015, I remembered being 11 and facing Arsenal's youth squad. It felt like reliving history.
"...Standing in the tunnel, I considered, 'Fine. It took 12 years. But let's determine who made the correct decision.'" Kane provided a decisive response by scoring both goals in a 2–1 victory at White Hart Lane.