Former Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min has praised Harry Kane’s work ethic, saying his former team-mate became one of football’s most feared strikers through dedication as well as talent.
Son, who left Tottenham Hotspur in 2025 after a decade in North London, said Kane would regularly remain on the training pitch for an additional 10 to 20 minutes to practise shooting.
“He wasn’t naturally giftedHarry obviously has amazing talent, but he worked incredibly hard to reach this level,” Son told The Late Run Show podcast. “Even now, after training, he’ll likely stay on the pitch for an extra 10 to 20 minutes every day practising his shooting. That’s what makes him a special player.”
Son also reflected on the understanding he developed with Kane during their time together at Tottenham Hotspur.
“We had amazing chemistry and understood each other perfectly,” he said. “With him by my side, I think anyone could have achieved the same success because he’s so specialhe makes the players around him shine. It was a great honour to form such a partnership with him.”
The pair combined for 47 Premier League goals, a competition record for goals assisted by one another. They surpassed the previous mark of 36 set by Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard, with Son assisting Kane 23 times and Kane providing 24 assists for Son.
They also share the Premier League record for the most combined goals in a season, scoring 14 together during the 2020-21 campaign.
Kane is Tottenham Hotspur’s all-time leading scorer, having registered 280 goals and 63 assists in 435 appearances. He continues to excel with Bayern Munich, where he has scored more than 100 goals and became the fastest player to reach a century in Bundesliga history.
He is now part of the 100-goal club in both the Premier League and Bundesliga, while Son has also reached 100 Premier League goals.
Kane scored 73 goals in all competitions during one calendar year, the second-highest total of all time, and has been backed by Tim Sherwood as a contender to win the Ballon d’Or.
Son’s own Tottenham Hotspur career included winning the Premier League Golden Boot in 2021-22 with 23 goals, making him the first Asian player to claim the award. He also won the 2020 FIFA Puskas Award for his solo goal against Dan Burn and was selected for the 2020-21 PFA Premier League Team of the Year.
His biggest achievement at the club, however, was winning the Carabao Cup.
“Let me put it this way, I think I am a legend, why not!” Son said at the time. “No one has done it in 17 years, and today is the moment. Today I want to say I am a legend of this club.”
Now with LAFC in Major League Soccer, Son has contributed directly to 43 goals in 49 appearances, scoring 20 and assisting 23.
Steven Gerrard recently said Tottenham Hotspur still lacked a world-class player of Kane’s calibre after their league defeat by Aston Villa.
“Tottenham have signed many quality players, and you can see the squad is full of very good players,” he said. “But I don’t see that world-class superstar. Kane has obviously left.”
Gerrard compared Kane’s impact with Erling Haaland at Manchester City, Cole Palmer at Chelsea and Alexander Isak at Liverpool, saying Tottenham had “many very good players” but asking whether they had “that true superstar”.
