Kane and the six best players never to win a trophy
FT Desk
- Updated: 25 Aug 2021 15:31 BST
- 4 min read
Harry Kane announced on Wednesday that he was staying at Tottenham this season, putting an end to Manchester City’s hopes of signing him.
Kane had been eager to quit the north London club this summer in order to challenge for major titles.
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Incredibly, despite being one of the best English players of his generation and scoring over 200 goals, Kane has never won any silverware during his career.
Here are six other top players from the past to never win a trophy during their career.
Antonio Di Natale
By the time Antonio Di Natale retired, he was the sixth highest goalscorer in the history of Serie A.
Antonio Di Natale ”Toto” @ Udinese
445 Appearances
227 Goals pic.twitter.com/JaO9ZSqbLN— My Greatest 11 (@MyGreatest11) August 21, 2021
A late-bloomer, Di Natale scored 300 club goals in his career and was twice Serie A Capocannoniere.
He won 42 caps for Italy and was a runner-up at Euro 2012 but his loyalty to Udinese, where he spent 12 years, meant that he never won a trophy.
Matt Le Tissier
Another brilliant player who was penalised trophy-wise for his loyalty is Matt Le Tissier, who spent his entire 16-year professional career at lowly Southampton.
For a number of seasons, Le Tissier was arguably the most technically gifted and exciting player in English football, scoring numerous wondergoals and long-range strikes.
He turned down numerous offers from big clubs to stay with his beloved Southampton, a decision that meant he only won eight England caps.
Socrates
The great Socrates was the captain of the legendary 1982 Brazil team, which is remembered as possibly the best side never to win the World Cup.
The bearded and socialist Socrates was a delightful, graceful central midfielder who perfected the backheel into an artform.
He won a number of regional titles in Brazil, but these aren’t considered serious trophies and he went his entire club and international career without winning a major league or cup. He won 60 caps for Brazil and was a runner-up at the 1983 Copa America.
Joe Baker
Joe Baker was the first player in history to play for England having never played for a team in the country – he grew up and started his football in Scotland.
Starting off at Hibs, he went on to become of the most prolific strikers of his generation – scoring over 300 goals for Arsenal, Nottingham Forest and Sunderland among others.
He also had a controversial spell at Torino in Italy – alongside Denis Law – very nearly dying in a car crash.
Bernd Schneider
Bernd Schneider was one of the most underrated players in the world during his heyday, a technically-gifted attacking midfielder with an eye for a pass.
He was part of a wonderful Bayer Leverkusen team – also starring the likes of Lucio, Ze Roberto and Michael Ballack – that heartbreakingly were runners-up in the Bundesliga, domestic cup and Champions League in 2002.
He went close so many times to winning the very biggest trophies – including another silver at Euro 2008 and a bronze at World Cup 2006 – but he finished his career completely empty-handed.
Stan Collymore
Stan Collymore was regarded as perhaps the most promising young attacker in English football after bursting onto the scene in the mid-1990s at Nottingham Forest.
He made a big-money move to Liverpool, where he started well, but after two seasons he fell out of favour with his manager Roy Evans and was involved in a number of off-field controversies.
His career never really recovered and a footballer of immense talent would finish his career with nothing to show for it.
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