Harry Kane’s deadline day arrival at Norwich City remains one of the more anti-climactic moments in the club’s recent transfer history.

I can vividly remember the scene at my old house back in Acle - bedtime beckoned for me and my brother, but no: City fans were instructed to stay up late on social media given we’d got an 11th hour piece of business unexpectedly over the line.

Naturally, we waited and, with the clock ticking towards midnight on August 31, 2012, we were informed the club had recruited the services of Tottenham Hotspur striker Kane, 19 at the time and a largely unknown prodigy in the England junior set-up. 

Kane’s short-lived Carrow Road career never once got close to lift-off and, after missing a sitter on debut against West Ham and then suffering a metatarsal injury in the League Cup, he returned to north London where his red-hot goalscoring talent soon came to frightening fruition. 

But after a World Cup golden boot, almost 200 Premier League goals and more than 50 strikes for his country - second on the all-time list but surely bound to leapfrog Wayne Rooney in Qatar - it still feels as though Kane remains somewhat under-appreciated by considerable parts of the English footballing public. 

This manifests itself not only on social media but regularly between me and friends, the majority of whom are supporters of ‘Big Six’ clubs and therefore, if not of the Spurs persuasion, seem to possess an indelible aversion towards Kane despite his staggeringly prolific exploits in front of goal. 

Some of this may be the product of supporting one of Kane’s rival clubs, a peculiar yet perhaps understandable phenomenon – I would not know unless an Ipswich player miraculously catapulted himself into the international set-up – that appears to often diminish the level of enthusiasm many fans have for him whenever he pulls on a Three Lions jersey.

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And granted, Kane may well also be lacking in the flair and flamboyance of a Kylian Mbappe, Neymar or Erling Haaland, a player who is willing to do the dirty work and offers so much more to his team than mere ruthlessness in front of goal.

As showcased so frequently by his long-term relationship with Son Heung-min at club level, and more recently by England’s third goal against Iran on Monday, Kane’s seamless ability to drop deep, receive possession and link the play functions as a crucial asset to his game, instilling Gareth Southgate’s side with an additional dynamic that many of their rivals may be lacking in the Middle East.

And Kane remains one of the most intelligent, savvy and streetwise strikers around, an attribute that sometimes works further against his reputation at club level, but one his country has been so conspicuously lacking in many recent major tournaments.

His strike rate – 0.66 top-flight goals per game for club and 0.67 for country – is astonishing and, as England’s captain since 2018, Kane’s leadership abilities should serve to further elevate his status in the eyes of England fans supporters and wide.

Still just 29, Kane continues to come across as one of the most down-to-earth, humble and intelligent England players, but this week, when news of his alarming ankle scan began to spread, I encountered many fans and mates accusing him of - ostensibly once again - ‘bottling’ it on the big stage. 

Yes, Kane’s career remains trophy-less given Daniel Levy’s downright refusal to sell at Tottenham, coupled with England’s gut-wrenching defeats in the World Cup semi-finals and Euro 2020 final.

But are either of those shortcomings necessarily Kane’s fault and, on a broader level, is this modern obsession with silverware in any way an accurate barometer in assessing a player’s career?

By that logic, the likes of Ritchie de Laet, Scott Carson and Luke Chadwick have all enjoyed more fruitful careers than Kane, a player who may well be lacking in the game’s most coveted honours but one that regardless, has surely already entered the pantheon of all-time greats.

Of course, that status will be amplified even further if he can guide the Three Lions to World Cup glory or steer Spurs to a long-awaited trophy at domestic level. 

But if Kane’s haul of silverware is to remain the one, largely insignificant blot on an otherwise stunning football career, that should in no way detract from his legacy as one of his nation’s greatest ever goal-scorers. 

Norwich played only a small, embryonic part in Kane’s ever-evolving journey but whatever happens next in Qatar, I’ll never forget that summer evening when he first came to my attention and City’s surprise association with him begun.