Harry Kane has been crowned the world's best player, becoming the first English Ballon d'Or winner in 25 years and just the fifth in the award's history. The Bayern Munich striker's victory, at the age of 33, marks a remarkable journey from forgettable EFL loan spells to the summit of world football.
Former Tottenham boss Tim Sherwood, who gave Kane his full Premier League debut, describes the win as a Cinderella story never seen before. "He keeps breaking records, and I keep thinking, 'Are we talking about the same kid?'" Sherwood told Sky Sports. He believes Kane's path was harder than most. Unlike Michael Owen, who won the award aged 22 in 2001 after a rapid rise at Liverpool, Kane struggled for game time and for managers who fully backed him. Kane acknowledged this in his acceptance speech, saying, "My journey wasn't straightforward; I didn't go straight to the top, I had to experience a lot of loan moves and fight my way to get to where I am now."
Sherwood argues that the loan spells at Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich and Leicester were crucial rather than failures. He recalls his own arrival at Spurs as a sliding doors moment. Kane had been out in the cold until Sherwood handed him his first Premier League start, and the then 20-year-old scored the opener in a 5-1 home win over Sunderland in April 2014.
Kane's achievements since then are extraordinary. He has scored nearly 550 goals for club and country, becoming Tottenham's record scorer, England's all-time leading scorer and the top English scorer in Champions League history. Last season he netted 73 goals in all competitions, including 61 for Bayern, the most by any player in a season since Cristiano Ronaldo's 61 for Real Madrid in 2014/15.
Source: Sky Sports Champions League · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing