Harry Kane has told Erling Haaland not to count on winning the Premier League golden boot just yet.
The Manchester City sensation has a mind-boggling 15 top-flight goals to his name already, netting the latest in the Citizens' 4-0 thumping of strugglers Southampton on Saturday. While it seems that fans, pundits and bookies alike have already made up their minds on who'll be claiming the golden boot come May, Kane has vowed to keep fighting.
The Tottenham Hotspur striker bagged his eighth goal of the campaign during his side's emotional 1-0 win away to Brighton and afterwards told the Evening Standard : "There's a long way to go. Obviously some top players in the league but I'm feeling good, so it is nice to keep getting on the scoresheet, especially important goals to help the team win.
"A lot of games coming thick and fast, Champions League again in midweek [against Eintracht Frankfurt ], so we've got to recover well and the whole squad has to be ready to play so yeah we've got to keep battling out the games."
In a separate post-match interview with Viaplay, Kane added: "No [I haven't given up catching him], look there's a long way to go and a lot of games to play. I always concentrate on myself. I don't think about too many other people. We've got some great players in the Premier League, fantastic strikers. For me, it's just about doing what I can for my team."
Haaland only needs eight more strikes to match the 22 goals which saw Heung-Min Son pick up the golden boot last term, with the 22-year-old taking the English top tier by storm. Kane, on the other hand, has had his fair share of rodeos at the ripe age of 29 and former Tottenham teammate Kyle Walker-Peters has backed him to come out on top again.
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The Southampton right-back, who felt Haaland's wrath up close on Saturday, told talkSPORT : "Come on. Harry Kane has done it for how many years in the Premier League? "I think Haaland has had an absolutely unbelievable start. Some of the stats I'm seeing, it's just ridiculous.
"But Kane has proven it for god knows how many years now. I don't think we can compare them just yet. Haaland is definitely hungry to prove to people he's better than him. And Kane will want to stay at the top. So they'll have a good battle for top goalscorer."
An issue which has continuously derailed Kane's chances of winning the award in recent seasons has been a string injuries, and the England captain picked up another at Brighton before hobbling off in the 90th minute. "Yeah, [it is] just a knock I think," Kane reassured fans. "A sore one but definitely worth it when you win the game."
