Harry Kane: Ex Arsenal Academy Manager Released striker Because 'he Didn't Think He Was Good Enough'

• Harry Kane left Arsenal as a kid mainly because of the Gunners’ former academy manager
• Roy Massey admitted he felt Kane was not good enough and allowed the Englishman to join Tottenham as a kid
• Kane is currently the most sought-after striker in world football

Football has a lot of what-ifs, and perhaps one of the biggest ones in the modern game is “What if Harry Kane blossomed at Arsenal?

Tottenham’s all-time goal scorer has been the subject of transfer rumours in recent months after another impressive campaign with a team that primarily performed in the league.

The North Londoners finished in a lowly eighth in the league, but despite that, Kane managed to notch 30 league goals.

Only Manchester City’s Haaland got more goals than Kane in the league last season, and it is easy to argue the Norwegian got better service up front at a club that scooped a famous treble.

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While there is no question Kane is among the best strikers in the world, this was not the case as the striker was growing up.

In fact, former Arsenal academy manager Roy Massey allowed a young Kane to leave Arsenal because “he didn’t think he was good enough to be a striker”.

The brutal verdict was given to Kane when he was just 12 years, and Massey recalls it made Kane want to switch positions to give himself a chance.

"When I see Harry now I can’t help but to think back to when he was a starry-eyed 12-year-old, sat with his mum and dad in my office as I told him he wasn’t quite up to the standard we were looking for.” Massey said as quoted on The Sun.

"That was the hardest part of the job, telling lads that Arsenal were letting them go.

"Next thing, Harry’s dad came back in and told me he now wants to be a goalkeeper - and I thought the least I could do was to send him to work with our keeper coach Alex Welch."

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Kane’s redemption

Despite rejection from Arsenal, Kane was picked up by Tottenham where he was nurtured through his teen years, before eventually going pro and earning loan spells in different clubs from various tiers in English football.

His first appearance for Tottenham came in 2011 when he featured in a game against Hearts in a Europa League qualifier, according to Transfermkt.

It was in 2014 that his name started to cause a buzz in the Premier League as his impressive performances saw him named the 2014–15: PFA Young Player of the Year. The England international then emerged as top scorer in the league the following season, completely shutting down the notion that he was a ‘One season wonder’.

In 2021, former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger admitted regret of letting Kane go, saying he did not have too much control of the young striker’s fate back then.

Kane gifts England teammates

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Sports Brief also reported on how Harry Kane gifted his England teammates after becoming the nation’s all-time goal scorer.

Kane surpassed club legend, Jimmy Greaves, to become the club’s all-time top scorer with his goal in the 1-0 victory over Premier League champions, Manchester City in February.

The striker waited for the last contingents - the Man City treble winners - to arrive in camp before giving out a customised record to his teammates, each bearing their names and the list of countries he scored the goals against.