Former academy teammate surprised by Harry Kane's meteoric rise
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Andros Townsend has admitted he under no circumstances expected former Tottenham Hotspur academy teammate Harry Kane to become the world-class striker he is now.
Few would have predicted the meteoric rise of Kane over the past five years, as the Spurs academy graduate has become one of the very best strikers in the world.
The 26-year-old has the Premier League record for most goals in a calendar year, two Premier League golden boots, a World Cup golden boot, and a Champions League runners up medal.
Kane also led England to their first World Cup semi-final in 28 years, is Spurs' leading Premier League goalscorer with 136 goals, and was awarded an MBE, all before turning 27.
And Townsend, who left Tottenham for Crystal Palace four years ago, conceded he did not see such a rapid rise coming.
Townsend, who was a part of that core group of academy youngsters that broke through years ago alongside Kane, Jake Livermore, Tommy Carrol, Ryan Mason, and Nabil Bentaleb, told talkSPORT:
Harry is one of the best strikers in the world and I didn't see it coming, but he always had the foundations to do it.
From the first time I saw him he's always had an incredible ability to score goals. Maybe he didn't have the mobility he does now, or maybe he was half a yard slower, but he always possessed that ability to score left foot, right foot, from any position on the pitch.
And in the last three or four years he's been in the gym, he's bulked up, he's got quicker, he's got stronger, he can head the ball, he can run.
He's pretty much an all-round player now and one of the best in the world, and rightly so.
