London - Gareth Southgate has backed Harry Kane to establish himself as one of Europe’s top young strikers and prove he is more than a one-season wonder.
The past 12 months have gone better than Kane could have envisaged, as he scored 31 times for Tottenham, marked his England senior debut with a goal against Lithuania and was named PFA Young Player of the Year.
That, as Sportsmail revealed last month, has led Manchester United to put him on their list of possible targets this summer - there has not been any contact between the clubs - but for the moment his focus is on helping the Under 21s’ quest to win Euro 2015.
There will be a lot of focus on Kane during the next two weeks, as critics look to see whether he can replicate his club exploits in the Czech Republic but Southgate, the Under 21 head coach, has no concerns about his form tailing off.
Kane, who was given a week’s holiday in Dubai before he joined the Under 21 squad last Tuesday, has impressed Southgate with his attitude and that is why the coach expects him to keep progressing.
‘It is his mentality, really,’ said Southgate. ‘Will he score exactly as many goals (next year)? That is difficult to say, although the crowd that play in Spain seem to do that, don’t they? I don’t see him being distracted. He wants to keep improving and there are still more challenges ahead.
‘He is the type to think, “What’s next?” - so he will want to push his team into the Champions League. He wants the team to succeed. He’s been very big on that when we have been together.
‘He is also surrounded by really good people at Spurs. None of us have a crystal ball, but all the signs - the support at home, the close family unit - will play a part in the player remaining grounded.’
Kane played the last 30 minutes of Thursday’s 1-0 win over Belarus but is expected to start their opening Group B game against Portugal in Uherske Hradiste on Thursday.
Southgate feels the striker can be one of the stars of the tournament but points out that England can score from all over the pitch, as Middlesbrough defender Ben Gibson showed in Barnsley.
‘We’ve been encouraging our midfielders to score,’ said Southgate, whose squad fly out to their base in Olomouc tomorrow. ‘The last thing we want to be is a team where if you stop a player like Harry, then you stop the team.’
Daily Mail