Harry Kane has spoken candidly about his sensational goalscoring form last season, admitting he is proud to be considered for football's most prestigious individual honor, the Ballon d'Or.
The Bayern Munich striker netted an astonishing 73 goals across club and country during the 2023-24 campaign, a tally that surpassed Cristiano Ronaldo's previous single-season best of 69 goals, achieved in 2011-12. Only Lionel Messi's remarkable 82-goal haul from that same season stands above Kane's achievement, placing the Englishman in rarefied company among the sport's most prolific forwards.
Should the 33-year-old be named this year's Ballon d'Or winner in October, he would join an elite group of English recipients that includes Sir Stanley Matthews, Sir Bobby Charlton, Kevin Keegan, and Michael Owen. Notably, Kane would be the first English player to claim the award since Owen's triumph back in 2001.
Speaking to Owen Hargreaves in an interview for TNT Sports, Kane reflected on what was, by his own admission, the finest individual season of his career.
"I'm extremely proud of the season I put up, for sure," Kane said. "Not that long ago, I was that fan wanting to become a professional footballer and I am here now and winning awards and the Ballon d'Or is the same. Of course, now it is out of my hands, it is down to the voters and the people who decide it. The season I had was my best season by far and we'll have to wait and see."
Despite the eye-catching numbers from last term, Kane's current campaign has started more modestly in front of goal. He has yet to find the net in the Bundesliga this season through Bayern's opening two league fixtures — a 5-1 victory over Stuttgart followed by a goalless draw against Schalke. Even so, the striker insists his focus remains on continual improvement rather than resting on past accomplishments.
"It is a weird one because I am already focused on this season now and the next season," he explained. "Can I be better? Can I improve? But I also want to appreciate what I did."
Kane also touched on the broader debate surrounding individual awards in football, acknowledging the wide range of opinions that fuel such discussions.
"The thing with football opinions – there are so many opinions, so many arguments for different players and people love this player because he's fast and he's got great IQ and his finishing is great," he said. "So I think that is what makes football special, all those debates, and the Ballon d'Or is definitely one of them. I'm happy that I am in contention."
Perhaps most striking was Kane's own sense of disbelief at finding his name mentioned alongside two players often regarded as the greatest of all time — Messi and Ronaldo. Growing up watching their dominance of the sport, Kane admitted it still feels surreal to be part of that conversation.
"I grew up watching Messi and Ronaldo, the era of them just dominating and dominating," he said. "Obviously Messi is the only one to have scored more with 82, but even some of their other seasons, and Ronaldo's highest I think was 69. These are numbers that I just thought were silly, which they are. They are the two greatest of our generation and arguably of all time. So 73 goals, even for me, I am pretty amazed by that."
With the Ballon d'Or ceremony approaching in October, Kane now awaits the judgment of voters, hopeful that his historic tally will be enough to secure one of football's most coveted individual prizes.
Based on reporting from The Independent.