Harry Kane’s rapid rise to stardom did appear to come out of nowhere, didn’t it?
England’s captain went from the Spurs’ third choice striker to a Golden Boot winner in no time at all.
The day the world stopped to take notice of the unlikely hero was New Year’s Day back in 2015.
A day both he and John Terry will never forget.
In the first half of the 2014/15 season, Kane was playing a bit-part role behind Emmanuel Adebayor and Roberto Soldado.
The Spaniard only managed seven goals in his 52 Premier League games, while Adebayor had scored just two goals in his first 11 games that season.
Necessity is the mother of invention…
Mauricio Pochettino was left with little choice but to take a punt on Kane who had scored seven goals in ten Europa League starts.
90 minutes where the now England striker went from a hot prospect to hot property against their bitter rivals, Chelsea.
The Blues were top of the table going into the half-way point of the season, having only lost once to Newcastle.
Spurs, on the other hand, were seventh in the League and 15 points off their London counterparts.
While Kane had scored against the likes of Aston Villa, Leicester, Swansea and Burnley, he was yet to prove himself against one of the big boys.
And what better stage than against one of your greatest rivals?
Jose Mourinho’s (old) side got off to a flyer with Diego Costa giving them the lead at a place the Chelsea fans used to call ‘Three Point Lane.’
Step up Señor Kane…
The future World Cup Golden Boot winner danced around Oscar and Cesc Fabregas before cutting in and burying a 25-yard finish in the bottom corner.
Following Danny Rose’s goal, Kane was involved again, winning a penalty just before half time.
It’s hard to imagine him not taking up spot-kick responsibilities for Spurs, but in his early days he was below Andros Townsend in the pecking order.
The now Crystal Palace man scored to make it 3-1 before the break.
Kane’s second came seven minutes after the restart and if his first was good, the second was magic.
John Terry, arguably the Premier League’s best ever centre-back, got skinned by the 20-year-old before he slotted past Thibaut Courtois.
Three of Chelsea’s back four ended up in the Premier League Team of the Year that season, but on that cold January afternoon, they were made to look like pub players by the relatively unheard of Kane.
Even the most die-hard Spurs fan couldn’t have predicted his meteoric rise following that game.
He ended the season as their top scorer with 31 goals, 21 of which came in the League.
Kane scored 16 in 18 league games following that triumph against Chelsea, and a massive 136 goals in 198 top flight games for Spurs.
One of their own…
Now captain of both Spurs and England, Kane is a household name all across Europe and considered one of the top forwards in the game.
The 26-year-old owes a lot of his success to Pochettino and all the youth coaches that taught him as a young player.
But there is one man he may owe more gratitude to than anyone else, his former team-mate, Soldado.
Where would Kane be if the Spaniard had been any good for Spurs?