Harry Kane always took his career extremely seriously – to the point where he was desperate to replicate Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Just like the two football icons, widely known as the two best players of all time, every detail must be looked at to maximize their potential.
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This includes their daily diet and nutrition, never missing a meal and never missing the right kind of meal.
Kane realized this early in his career, aged 24, as he prepared to succeed Wayne Rooney as permanent England captain.
Before his dietary changes, one criticism that could be leveled at the then youngster was his physique and Tottenham even loaned him out to Leyton Orient and Millwall to toughen him up.
Although he played well there, his first Premier League loan spell at Norwich ended after just three appearances due to injury and he was back to square one, also failing to impress on loan at Leicester after being recalled and fired in 2012/13.
However, the striker was a game-changer at Tottenham when he broke into the first team a season later, when he scored 59 times in two years before having his food-based epiphany.
In 2017, Kane went so far as to hire a personal chef, who prepared his meals each day specifically tailored to his needs.
There were question marks over whether Kane was overused or not, particularly at Tottenham, where they were dependent on his goals.
It even meant the striker was forced to play due to minor injuries and fatigue – which could have repercussions over the summer when England compete in tournaments.
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Such a problem has previously affected star Three Lions players including Rooney, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard.
And Kane was also a victim of fatigue at Euro 2016, where England faltered and the frontman failed to score once as Iceland shocked the nation and forced Roy Hodgson to resign.
“I think over the last year I’ve changed a lot off the field as far as nutrition goes,” Kane told the Telegraph in 2017.
“It occurred to me that a football career is so short. It’s happening so fast that we have to make every day count.
“So I have a chef at home to eat the right food and help with recovery.
“You can’t train as hard as you’d like when you have so many matches, so you have to make small gains elsewhere, like with food. This will help me go into a tournament year, with my body and my recovery. .”
This proved completely groundbreaking as his performances for England at Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup couldn’t be further away.
At the Euros, Kane failed to hit the net once, but two years later he scored six – including a hat-trick against Panama – which helped him win the Golden Boot ahead of Kylian Mbappe, Ronaldo and Messi.
And the size difference was significant, going from a relatively skinny number 9 to a bulky, almost old-school number 9 who couldn’t be flustered with the ball and shook defenders like leaves.
Diet is so important for players these days as stars have all dreamed of replicating Messi and his exploits and Ronaldo and his net worth.
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“I appreciate good players,” Kane said. “Messi and Ronaldo, they do it every week consistently.
“That’s what I aspire to be. It’s nice to be appreciated, but I have to focus on what I want to do.”
And while many might consider rivaling Messi and Ronaldo, very few come close – but Kane did – and in 2017 his change of diet made a huge difference to his form.
This saw him score 36 times in 31 appearances, winning the Golden Boot for Tottenham during the year – nine fewer than Messi at Barcelona in the same period but also in 12 fewer games.
But Kane outplayed Ronaldo, who scored 31 goals in 34 appearances for Real Madrid, while the Spurs man also scored five in five for England.
Not bad for a 24-year-old, who has since solidified himself as one of the best strikers in recent history and joined Bayern Munich last summer in search of trophies.
Speaking seven years ago, Kane added: “I always ate well, never bad.
“But I had a guy who explained to me what you could do, eat the right food at the right time.
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“You could eat healthy all week and then carb (carbohydrate) before a game, and that could put your body into shock because you’re not used to it.
“So maybe higher carbs sometimes, lower other times, planning the workout. I started doing it on January 1st, a New Year’s resolution.
“I met this guy in December. I talked to him and it blew me away a little. I never really paid attention to it, but when he explained to me what the body does and how it could help me recover…
“He helped me recover from my (ankle ligament) injury, with certain foods that I ate. It opened my eyes a little bit.
“It’s there (at Kane’s) every day, Monday to Saturday, and leaves it in the fridge for Sunday. I hardly ever see him because I work out, but he cooks the food and leaves it in the fridge. We have a good plan going and it seems to be working.
“It’s a big part of football these days. Other players do the same thing. My career has already gone so fast that I want to make the most of it.
Now 30 at Bayern, Kane’s diet has kept him in tip-top shape as he looks to extend his career into the next decade of his life, breaking records for fun.
Having a taste of scoring in Germany, it helps that Euro 2024 is being held there this summer and the England captain has his sights set on leading the Three Lions to glory.
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Having overtaken Rooney as England’s top scorer with 62 goals in 89 appearances, the London-born star can finally rub shoulders with the elite with an international trophy.
Ronaldo won the Euros and the Nations League with Portugal while Messi swung the GOAT debate in his favor by winning the World Cup with Argentina in 2022.
Already regarded as one of the best players on the planet, England’s road to Euro glory will rest on Kane, as well as Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice.
And that means sticking to the diet for Kane, one that has served him well for years of his career and perhaps the next – as he looks to change sports.
Truly replicating Ronaldo and Messi would mean replicating their longevity at the highest level, which means staying in top shape and not missing a meal, although Kane has a weakness and when asked what his guilty pleasure was, he replied: “Apple crumble!” “
