'Quicker, stronger lads' - Arsenal academy chief reflects on releasing Kane

Stuart Telford

• 29 Oct 2023 05:36 CDT
• 3 min read

Harry Kane has hit the ground running at Bayern Munich following his €95 million transfer from Tottenham Hotspur, but he might have been scoring goals and earning record fees for Arsenal instead.

Kane spent a year in Arsenal's academy but was released as a nine-year-old back in 2002, with the club harbouring doubts about his physical prowess.

Now a 6'2" striker who is Spurs' and England's record goalscorer, Kane has already hit 14 goals and seven assists across 12 games in all competitions following his summer switch to Bayern.

READ: Kane WANTED Man Utd transfer before Bayern move

It was former academy coach Roy Massey who made the decision to release Kane at Arsenal all those years ago, and he has admitted that he still deliberated on the decision two decades on.

"Every time he scored a goal for Tottenham and now for England, I do scratch my head a little bit over what might have happened if he'd have stayed at Arsenal," he told Tribal Football.

Kane 'overshadowed' at Arsenal

"I do remember he was a lovely lad. He was so keen and enthusiastic about his game. And looking back, he had a very good touch on the ball, but at Arsenal, there were much quicker, stronger lads with bigger personalities. Perhaps he was overshadowed a little bit."

READ: Henry could help Arsenal land the next Bellingham

Massey did, however, stop short of saying that Kane would have been a sure-fire success in Arsenal's first team.

"If he'd come in and signed for Arsenal at 16 or 17 in those days, he'd have been competing with Thierry Henry to get in the first team at Arsenal, and maybe he might not have had the chance to continue his career at Arsenal."

Henry scored 175 goals across two spells with Arsenal, whilst also contributing 80 assists, and is widely regarded as one of the best attackers in Premier League history.

Kane has long since overtaken him for goals in the English top flight, however, with 213 goals - as well as 50 provisions - although with two more seasons to do so.