If scoring goals is considered an art, Harry Kane is a modern-day J. M. W. Turner; precise, deeply intentional, and expressive. The 32-year-old is in the form of his life, shattering records for both club and country.
With 21 goals in 15 games across all competitions for Bayern Munich, and five in his last six for England, Is Kane the best striker in the world?
Clinical feels like an understatement
If Harry Kane keeps scoring at his current rate and plays every game, he’s on track for 62 league goals this season. That’s a tall order, but with 28 matches left, he needs just 31 more to beat Robert Lewandowski’s record of 41 goals in a Bundesliga season, a record that has felt insurmountable for quite some time.
A few weeks back, Kane’s second goal against Werder Bremen took him to 100 goals for Bayern Munich after only 104 games, faster than anyone else at a single club in Europe’s top five leagues this century, beating Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid and Erling Haaland at Manchester City, who both reached the mark in 105 matches.
What’s really interesting, is that Kane doesn’t actually shoot THAT much. The Englishman has 11 Bundesliga goals from 21 shots, 16 of which have been on target, he also exceeds his xG, which is at 5.89.
With nine hat-tricks in 69 Bundesliga appearances, that’s one every 7.7 matches, Kane’s scoring frequency is unmatched. Since his move to Germany, no other player in Europe’s major leagues has registered more than four hat-tricks.
Can anyone compete?
Simply put, no, there is no one scoring at the rate that Kane is at the moment. Since arriving from Tottenham in 2023, Kane has scored 73 goals in just 69 Bundesliga matches, a tally unmatched in Europe’s major leagues during that time.
Kylian Mbappé ranks next with 67 from 71 league games across France and Spain, while Haaland’s Premier League return over the same 69 appearances sits 15 goals behind, although the robotic Norwegian is two behind Kane in league goals so far this season.
Domestically, his closest competitor is Serhou Guirassy. Since the start of 2023-24, he has 74 goals in 88 games across all competitions during his time with Stuttgart and now Borussia Dortmund.
Without Kane in the Bundesliga, that would be considered a truly remarkable goal return for the Guinean, but he is there, and the Bayern Munich man continues to make everyone behind look less impressive.
Does Harry Kane only score penalties?
The critics amongst us would suggest that Kane’s stats are heavily swayed by the number of penalties he scores, and it’s not unfair, four of his 11 Bundesliga goals so far have come from the spot.
In fact, during his time in Bavaria, Kane has taken 28 penalties, scoring 27, with his only miss coming in the DFB-Pokal win over Wehen Wiesbaden, though he had also scored one earlier in that game.
Elite strikers should be scoring penalties, but it’s never really that simple. Kane is an expert at handling the pressure than comes with such moments, which makes it all the more painful that he missed against France in the 2022 World Cup.
That miss actually forced Kane to rethink his technique, telling The Athletic, “After another major tournament, you get over it and you get on with it. I scored a penalty in the semi-final of Euro 2024, which was as high pressure as you are going to get.
“I always try and learn from those moments. After that penalty, I went 31 penalties, I think, without missing. I changed my technique a little bit, I improved, which I was proud of. That’s what I will always try to do.”
Verdict
It’s so hard to even come up with a reason as to why Kane isn’t the best striker in the world at the moment. One could say that the Bundesliga isn’t the most competitive league in the world, but the sheer volume of goals kinda outweighs that point of view.
So, yes, Kane is the best striker on the planet… right now.