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Brad Friedel ‘knew’ which Tottenham player was a ‘truly special talent’

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Brad Friedel was full of praise for Harry Kane and revealed he knew the Tottenham striker was a “truly special talent” when he rose through the youth ranks to the first-team. Kane has scored 160 goals in 244 appearances for Spurs and is one of the best and most consistent centre-forwards in Europe.

The 25-year-old has still bagged 20 goals in all competitions this season (14 in the Premier League) despite being sidelined with an ankle injury since mid-January, but Friedel isn’t surprised by his rise to prominence. He revealed in an interview with US Bookies: “We absolutely knew how good Kane was going to be.

“It was noted many times in our staff meeting and our meetings when I was starting my coaching at Tottenham. As a player, each and every one of us knew that he was a truly special talent. He has proved that hard work does pay off, and he still works harder than everyone else out there.”

Friedel, now the manager of New England Revolution, made 67 appearances in all competitions for Tottenham between 2011 and 2015 and will have witnessed Kane making his senior debut against Heart of Midlothian (August 18, 2011) in the Europa League.

The Englishman’s Premier League debut came a season later against Newcastle United on August 18, 2012, but he didn’t become a regular until the 2014/15 campaign. Friedel saw the player rise from obscurity and lauded Kane for his hard work paying off.

  • 2013/14 (Premier League) 10 games, 3 goals
  • 2014/15 (Premier League) 34 games, 21 goals
  • 2015/16 (Premier League) 38 games, 25 goals
  • 2016/17 (Premier League) 30 games, 29 goals
  • 2017/18 (Premier League) 37 games, 30 goals
  • 2018/19 (Premier League) 22 games, 14 goals

The striker has returned to training ahead of Saturday afternoon’s meeting with Burnley and is only three goals behind Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) and Sergio Aguero (Manchester City) in the Premier League scoring charts this season. Friedel’s probably backing Kane to catch them.

Read Crippy Cooke’s previous article

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Sports journalist who is an avid football fan, enjoys debunking transfer rumours, loves to write pieces about players out in the cold and takes a large amount of pride getting a predicted XI 100% correct.