Shortly before Viking take on Bayern Munich, as Harry Kane walks out at the Viking Stadion in Stavanger, Norway, he might find himself thinking that this could have been his home ground. No, this isn’t a story from a Football Manager career. Gary Goodchild, a former English scout for the Norwegian club, told Kicker that he once travelled to London to watch Kane, having heard that the young striker might be interested in a move to Norway.
It was 2012, and Kane, now England captain, was playing for Millwall on loan from Tottenham, struggling to make an impression. Goodchild had heard that the young striker, still on Spurs’ books and coming off another disappointing loan spell at Leyton Orient, “might be interested in going to play in Norway”. He made the trip to England to watch him, only for Kane to pick up an injury and miss the match. Viking decided not to pursue the deal, and Kane stayed at Millwall until the end of the season before heading out on loan twice more, first to Norwich and then to Leicester City. Neither spell went particularly well.
Tottenham, though, brought him back to London and gave him a place in the first-team squad. Goodchild remembers how quickly things changed: “A year and a half after my trip to England, Kane was already in the first team.” It was the 2013–14 season. A year later, Spurs appointed Mauricio Pochettino, the Argentine coach who put his faith in Kane and helped turn him into the ruthless, technically gifted striker whose movement, finishing and eye for goal have made him one of the most compelling forwards of his generation. Now Kane is set to play the first match of his career in Norway. He has faced Bodø/Glimt in the Champions League, but that game was at the Allianz Arena. This time, he will take the field in Stavanger, at the ground that might have been his home.