From Underdog to Icon: How Harry Kane's Incredible Work Ethic Turned Him into One of England's Greatest Captains

I’VE played with Harry Kane many times for Tottenham and England and the work he has put in to get where he is today has been nothing short of extraordinary.

I’m not sure people really realise how much he has had to graft to get to be one of the best strikers in the world.

Kyle Walker has plenty of experience of playing alongside Harry Kane Credit: Getty Walker starred alongside Kane for club and country during his career Credit: REUTERS

I signed for at 19 and did a couple of training sessions with Harry’s age group which included the likes of , Steven Caulker, and Tom Carroll.

It was a good group but Harry was a little bit overweight and didn’t stand out. He would be honest with himself about that.

Harry went out on loan and I wouldn’t even say he came back as a better player because he was sent out on loan again and again at , , Norwich and Leicester where he sat on the bench and didn’t really play that much.

But he’s always been obsessive in training, staying behind to practice his shooting and work on his finishing.

I’m not speaking out of turn because H is a good friend, but he’s not the quickest.

And he really had to sharpen up on the tools when he was around the box, he had to be clinical.

Him and would do a lot of training sessions together on one touch finishing or touch and shoot.

He perfected it so well with getting his angles right and he has a way of scoring into the side of the net which makes it so hard for keepers.

Kane was not always that highly-touted at Spurs Credit: Alamy

There’s a lot of pressure on him today but the way he copes with it is phenomenal.

For so many years with Tottenham, , and now at , the goals have rested on his shoulders. When ‘s not playing, there’s not normally many goals.

And the aura he has doesn’t come from his personality off the field, it comes from his personality on it

He lets his football do the talking, banging in goals, putting in performances and leading by example, not just on a match day when the crowd’s there and everyone can see, but on the training field and in the gym.

I like to say it’s in the dark. It can seem easy running out and performing when there’s 95,000 people there and clapping and you’re scoring goals and celebrating.

But it comes from the hard work you put in that no one else can see – that’s what makes a true player.

Kane is preparing to captain England at a major tournament for a fifth time Credit: Getty

I remember him scoring a goal at and you were still thinking ‘OK that’s one game but is he going to get a continuous run of games?’.

He owes a lot to Tim Sherwood who brought him in but it was probably the easiest decision to make because Roberto Soldado wasn’t scoring goals.

He also brought , who had been left out by previous boss Andre Villas-Boas, and stuck Harry up with him and all of a sudden something gelled and Harry just started scoring goals and the rest is history.

He scored a goal against when he had a mask on after he’d broken his nose and he pulled it off and started running and I thought: “The sky’s the limit for you, nothing can stop you because you love scoring goals.”

We always used to have a bit of banter that a defender can play well for 90 minutes and in the 91st minute, someone puts it through your legs and sticks it in the top bin.

All of a sudden you’ve had the worst game, you’re a four out of 10.

Kane famously ripped his mask off after scoring against Arsenal Credit: Getty

Harry could play terribly for 90 minutes, score the winner, run off, and we’d joke how it would be “Harry Kane’s got the winner again to put England in the final or to win the World Cup”.

That’s just my job compared to his.

But he’s developed as a man and as a captain.

The way he’s taken to the captain’s role so well has surprised me. He was a quiet boy, a little bit shy, didn’t really speak much, but he’s grown into it.

He’s been probably one of England’s greatest ever captains – up there with .

There’s a lot of roles and responsibilities that come with that. You have to carry yourself in a certain way 24 hours a day, seven days a week and Harry’s the prime example of a great England captain.

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I had the pleasure of being his vice captain for England and it was fantastic.

He’s very direct in what he says, very astute and also clever.

When he talks to players individually he does it in a different way to when he’s addressing the group as a whole, where he stresses we’re Team England and makes sure that his point comes across very strong and direct.

He’s not a shouter, there’s no hairdryer treatment. But when he needs to send a message over, he sends it over very clearly.

The biggest problem Harry’s faced over the last number of years is the ankle injuries. But he’s nipped that in the bud now, done a lot of strength and conditioning to improve that.

He’s now playing 40, 50, games a season, which probably wasn’t the case back when we was at Tottenham.

Now he’s reaping the rewards – and that is great news for England.