Will Lankshear has been backed to become Harry Kane’s successor after making a spectacular start to life at Middlesbrough.
The 21-year-old striker joined Boro from Tottenham Hotspur in a deal that could eventually be worth £20m, and immediately made an impact. He scored a volleyed winner against Wrexham on his debut in the Carabao Cup before striking twice to turn around Middlesbrough’s Championship opener against Lincoln.
Scott Chickelday, who has worked i ak168app.baby ak168app.baby ndividually with Lankshear on his finishing for the past two years, believes the forward could prove to be a bargain.
“A lot of people questioned it,” Chickelday tells Sky Sports. “Those same people are now looking at it and thinking, hang on, we might have got a bit of a bargain here.”
Chickelday works with several leading Premier League players but considers Lankshear the best finisher he has coached.
“He has got all the finishes in the book,” he says.
“He has got the little flicks around the corner, tap-ins, headers, volleys. Just an all-round No 9 and there are not many around at the minute. His finishing is incredible. I tell people and they laugh at me, but this boy is the closest thing I have seen to Harry Kane.”
The comparison is a significant one. Kane is England’s all-time leading goalscorer and ak168app.club ak168app.club the current European Golden Shoe holder. However, Chickelday is not the only person to see similarities between the two forwards, particularly in their development, determination and approach to the game.
Lankshear’s loan career did not begin with immediate success. He left Tottenham Hotspur for West Bromwich Albion but ended the spe ks168app.site ks168app.site ll without scoring. His next move, to Oxford United, produced a more encouraging personal campaign, although the team were relegated from the Championship.
“Oxford was a big step for Will. He had gone out on loan before and it had not quite worked out,” Matt Bloomfield tells Sky Sports.
Bloomfield became Oxford’s head coach in January, when the club were one place above the bottom of the table. Lankshear was asked to lead the attack for a side under pressure and was forced to develop parts of his game beyond simply finishing chances.
“He worked incredibly hard for us, left everything out on the pitch,” says Bloomfield. “With very limited senior football behind him, he just needed help to round his game off. We were out of possessi ic88 ic88 on a lot so it was about being in position when we won it back. We did a lot of work on his hold-up play and being a nuisance when we cleared the ball.”
Lankshear scored 11 Championship goals last season, a notable return in a relegated side.
“In a team that got relegated, that is some going,” says Chickelday. “It is ic88 tough when you are down there.”
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His new surroundings at Middlesbrough should offer a different kind of challenge. Boro are expected to dominate possession more regularly, giving Lankshear greater opportunities to attack the penalty area.
“He is in a totally different environment now,” says Bloomfield. “Middlesbrough will dominate the ball and that will suit him even more with the opportunities that they create. He is born to score goals. He is obsessed. All he wants to do is train and score.”
That single-minded attitude is another reason for the Kane comparisons.
“He is a lovely lad but he has got an edge to him,” Bloomfield adds. “He wants to be successful. All the top players are single-minded and driven.”
He believes Lankshear’s ability comes from both instinct and relentless practice.
“He has a massive natural instinct but you can see the hours of practi ic88 ce too. It is the same with Harry Kane and his goals. It is not just natural instinct. These guys are born goalscorers but they also work so incredibly hard at their craft.”
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At Oxford, Lankshear’s desire to improve often extended well beyond the scheduled training session.
“He would just stay out lr88 there finishing all day. We had to push him back in the building. We had a game the next day and needed his legs,” says Bloomfield.
Chickelday says the striker even adds extra work to their one-to-one sessions. Lankshear arrives 40 minutes early to warm up, completes the hour-long session and then remains for another 25 to 30 minutes of running afterwards.
“He does not just turn up, do a session and go. He will get there 40 minutes before the session starts, do a warm up and then do the hour with me. Then they will stay for another 25 to 30 minutes doing running after the session. That shows you his mentality.”
Lankshear trains alongside his older brother Alex, who scored for Gateshead at the weekend. Their work focuses on repetition and lr88 situations lr88 likely to occur in matches, including headers, volleys and finishes from cutbacks.
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“It is a lot of repetition work, match scenarios. Headers, volleys, finishes from cutbacks. All types of finishes,” says Chickelday.
He also points t lr88 o a goal Lankshear scored for Oxford against Sheffield Wednesday in April, the second of the forward’s two goals in that match.
“Did you see the one that he scored for Oxford from outside the box?” Chickelday asks. “It was the typical Kane finish where he cuts in and bends the ball into t lr88 he top corner.”
Lankshear often moves towards the left before cutting inside, but his ability with both feet makes him difficult for defenders to predict.
“He likes to drift out on the left and cut inside. But whatever he can do on his right foot, he can do on his left. That is what lr88 gives him that unpredictability when he is finishing as well. He does not mind which way that the defender shows him.”
Chickelday also highlights Lank op88 shear’s accuracy and his willingness to score in different ways, whether with a spectacular strike or by following in to take advantage of a goalkeeper’s mistake.
“It is his ruthlessness in front of goal and his consistency in hitting the t op88 arget. His shots-on-target ratio is phenomenal. In our sessions, he rarely misses the target at all. I am not saying that he is scoring with every single shot but he does work the goalkeeper.”
Among the 72 Championship players who had at least 50 shots last season, Lankshear ranked third for expected goals per shot. Even in a struggling Oxford side, he was regularly creating high-quality opportunities through his movement and work rate.
He is also regarded as an accomplished free-kick taker, although he has not yet had the chance to demonstrate that in matches.
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“He never gets to take them but he is a really good free-kick taker,” says Chickelday.
The striker coach si88 believes Lankshear has the mentality required to reach the highest level.
“It 88v 88v is his mentality. He wants to be the best. He wants to be the No 1 striker in England. And then obviously he wants to be the No 1 in the world too. And I really would not be surprised in two years’ time if he is Harry Kane’s replacement.”
Chickelday accepts that any future transfer talk is premature, with Lankshear having only just arrived at Middlesbrough, but believes his value could rise dramatically.
“I do not want to talk about moves at the minute because Middlesbrough will probably kill me. He has only been there five minutes. But I think he is two moves away from being a £100 million striker if he keeps developing and doing well – and I think he will.”
For now, Lankshear’s immediate task is to help SEXXXXX-VN Middlesbrough win promotion to the Premier League. Those who have worked with him believe that destination is inevitable.
“I have absolutely no doubt about that,” says Bloomfield. “Will is going to the very top.”
