On 23 March 2023, Harry Kane scored his 54th England goal to overtake Wayne Rooney as the Three Lions' all-time record goalscorer.
Some 44 days later, Walthamstow-born Kane was leaving Rooney in his dust again, this time overtaking the former Everton and Manchester United forward in the Premier League's all-time goalscorer stakes by bagging the 209th goal of his career against Crystal Palace.
At a rain-soaked Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Kane rose highest to nod home Pedro Porro's cross from the byline - the ball skidding off the greasy surface to give Sam Johnstone no chance in the Eagles goal.
It was Kane's 26th goal of a prolific 2022/23 campaign - the third best goal return he's mustered in his 10 seasons as a Premier League regular - and his 10th headed goal of the season, something no player has ever done.
Kane's best campaigns, incidentally, were back-to-back in 2016/17 and 2017/18, when he bagged 29 goals in 30 games and then 30 goals in 37 games.
Rooney achieved 20+ goal Premier League seasons just twice in his career by comparison - firstly during 2009/10 when his 26 goals fired Manchester United to the Premier League title, and again during 2011/12 when he notched 27 from 34 appearances.
Harry Kane's Premier League goal record vs Wayne Rooney
Name / Clubs | Appearances | Goals | Game Winning Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
Harry Kane (Tottenham) | 314 | 209 | 60 |
Wayne Rooney (Everton, Manchester United) | 491 | 208 | 66 |
Adding further weight to Kane's achievements, Rooney spent 16 seasons as a Premier League player getting his 208-goal mark - considerably more than Kane.
Yet Kane's insatiable thirst for goals has already seen him usurp Rooney's record, though you can attribute changes of position for the latter's goal return slowing down - his diminishing pace saw him drop into a deeper role towards the back end of his United career and his one year return to Merseyside.
Kane could go on to become the Premier League's greatest ever marksman and is now the lead chaser to Alan Shearer's all-time record of 260. His Palace strike leaves him 51 goals shy, which at the current rate of scoring could see him achieve the feat in 2025/26.
Rooney may have the Premier League medals to go with his goals - five compared to Kane's trophy haul of zero - but the fact he took 177 more appearances to score his haul surely settles the debate over which player is the greatest out and out striker.
The better player? That remains a question for the pub.
Premier League's top 10 all-time leading goalscorers
Position / Name | Goals |
|---|---|
1. Alan Shearer | 260 |
2. Harry Kane | 209 |
3. Wayne Rooney | 208 |
4. Andrew Cole | 187 |
5. Sergio Aguero | 184 |
6. Frank Lampard | 177 |
7. Thierry Henry | 175 |
8. Robbie Fowler | 163 |
9. Jermain Defoe | 162 |
10. Michael Owen | 150 |
Can Harry Kane surpass Alan Shearer's Premier League goal record?
Kane still has plenty of time on his side. Aged just 29, he conceivably has six, perhaps even seven more years left at the highest level.
His ten full seasons and 209 goals so far means he averages around 20.9 per campaign - a ratio that would see Kane comfortably overtake Shearer.
The only spanners that could be thrown into the works are Kane suffering injury problems, or whether or not he leaves the Premier League. Bayern Munich have shown a keen interest in replacing Robert Lewandowski with Kane, although 90min recently revealed that the Bundesliga giants have turned their attentions to Randal Kolo Muani - knowing Spurs chairman Daniel Levy may make negotiations over a transfer unbearable.
