How 'anti-superstar' Harry Kane defied doubters to achieve Ballon d'Or greatness

Harry Kane has taken the scenic route to the Ballon d'Or - a road littered with doubts and diversions, but one that eventually led to the ultimate destination: being crowned as the world's best player.

The 33-year-old's glory at the London Palladium on Monday is fitting reward for an exemplary career that has seen records fall at his feet for England, Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich.

Kane is England's top goalscorer with 91 goals. He has 125 England caps, joint-highest with Peter Shilton. He is Spurs' record scorer with 280 goals in 435 appearances. He scored a remarkable 73 goals in 65 games for Bayern Munich and England during the 2025–26 season.

This is the Kane of recent vintage, the world-class striker and complete footballer who beat Real Madrid and France striker Kylian Mbappe, as well as Spain's teenage Barcelona forward Lamine Yamal, to the sport's biggest personal honour.

Kane's humility has seen him described as an 'anti-superstar' and his achievement has been commended both inside and outside the football world.

One post on social media from Kane as he celebrated the greatest moment of his career said it all: "Work hard in silence. Let success be your noise."

And yet, Kane's journey was not always smooth.

It was one that started with loan moves around the lower divisions with Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich City and Leicester City before he developed into a great for club and country.

The same Kane sat on the bench on loan at Leicester City – alongside future England team-mate Jamie Vardy – when the Foxes lost a dramatic Championship play-off at Watford in May 2013.

Kane went through hard schools and hard times away from his more familiar environment at Spurs, joining Orient on loan as a 17-year-old in January 2011, playing 18 games with nine starts and scoring five goals.

He joined Millwall in similar circumstances a year later, with some behind the scenes at Spurs fearing the traditionally hostile atmosphere at the New Den might intimidate the teenager, but he acquitted himself well, scoring nine goals in 24 starts.

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Former Spurs manager Tim Sherwood said: "I used to watch Harry a lot at Millwall and it was an intimidating atmosphere. I remember overhearing one of our scouts come and talk to Harry Redknapp - who was Spurs manager at the time - and say: 'We need to get Harry Kane out of Millwall, it's no good for him there'.

"I went straight in and said: 'This is the perfect atmosphere for him'."

Kane made his Spurs debut in August 2012 before a spell at Norwich City, where he failed to score in three starts and suffered a serious foot injury.

It was an unhappy time but Chris Hughton, the former Spurs defender who was manager at Carrow Road, said: "What I saw in him was a desire to do well. Did I see him having the mobility and flexibility he has in his game now? Probably not. He was a very good finisher. He would stay out after training for half an hour every day, left foot, right foot."

Next stop was Leicester City between February and May 2013, when he made five starts and scored two goals, a stint best remembered for that dramatic Championship play-off game when Troy Deeney scored for Watford to send them to Wembley seconds after Anthony Knockaert's penalty was saved by Manuel Almunia.

Kane was not even selected in Leicester's starting line-up, only being sent on after 61 minutes. And who was alongside him on the bench? Vardy, who later won the Premier league with the Foxes and played alongside Kane for England.

He later admitted this was a time of self-doubt, saying: "That was probably the time in my career where it was the hardest - I was 19 and I was thinking, 'If I can't play for Norwich or for Leicester, even in the Championship, then how I am going to get back and play for Tottenham?'"

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It is testimony to Kane's strength of character, even as a youngster, that he not only returned to Spurs but left for Bayern Munich in August 2023 as one of their greatest ever players.

Even at Spurs, Kane's superb record always carried the qualification that he never won a trophy, a stick used to unfairly beat a player whose remarkable consistency and approach marked him down as the consummate professional.

Kane has put that right spectacularly at Bayern, winning the Bundesliga twice, the move propelling him to the level of global superstar, giving him the profile and platform to win the Ballon d'Or - the first English player to win the trophy since Michael Owen in 2001 and the fifth overall.

Former England midfielder Danny Murphy told BBC Sport recently: "He's a born goalscorer. He's a super professional. He's technically brilliant. He's been an absolute credit to himself and his family in the way he's conducted himself and the longevity he's had in his career."

There is still that one space on his roll of honour, namely success with England after losses in two Euros finals and two World Cup semi-final defeats, but who would bet against Kane being fit and motivated enough to have one last crack at Euro 2028 in the UK and Ireland.

Kane is now at the peak of his powers and fitness, not just a goalscoring machine but the complete player capable of dropping deep into midfield to play the sort of breathtaking defence splitting pass exemplified by Alphonso Davies' goal against Arsenal in the recent Champions League game.

One of Kane's illustrious predecessors in England's number nine shirt, Alan Shearer, told BBC Radio 5 Live: "It was so well deserved because he hasn't had things all his own way. He's had to go round it the hard way. He had to start off the hard way by someone telling him, 'You're not quite good enough, you're going to have to work a lot harder to get to where you want to'.

"He did that. He went out on loan and worked harder than anyone else. He's got to the very, very top and now he's the best player in the world and that's what dedication does for you. It's a message to everyone.

"Harry said it in his speech - that if you're told you're not good enough, then go and try again and work harder. He did that and look where he is now. He's been scoring goals at a phenomenal rate for so many years now and he deserved it."

Shearer added: "I think the best thing for me is how humble Harry is. Footballers are like movie stars nowadays. You see them walking down the red carpet and some of them are in sunglasses when it's pitch black and eight o'clock at night. Harry is just normal, as normal as they come."

Once the celebrations die down, it will be back to business for the humble superstar, with Bayern playing Magdeburg in the German DFB Pokal second round on Wednesday before the big home fixture against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday evening.

Kane's career has not been without its obstacles but he remains as focused as ever to conquer whatever is placed in front of him by Bayern Munich and England.