Harry Kane has admitted that former Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney once told him that he would break his all-time England goalscoring record.
Kane, who is United manager Erik ten Hag's top striker target ahead of the summer transfer window, moved to the top of the Three Lions' all-time scoring charts after netting a penalty in England's 2-1 win over Italy in their opening European Championship qualifier on Thursday night. The England captain netted a penalty shortly before half-time to claim his 54th goal for his country.
Kane was, of course, close to smashing Rooney's tally of 53 during the World Cup in Qatar in December but blazed a second penalty in the Three Lions' 2-1 quarter-final defeat to France over the bar. However, he made up for that miss by scoring a decisive goal to secure England's first win in Italy since 1961.
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Though the victory was a landmark one for England and the perfect way to their start their qualifying campaign, the night belonged to Kane. Unsurprisingly, he was the subject of thousands of congratulatory messages, including one from Rooney, who took to social media during the match.
He posted on his Twitter page: "Congratulations to @HKane on becoming @England's all-time leading goalscorer. I knew it wouldn’t take long but that was quick. Great man, unbelievable goalscorer and an England legend. Congrats Harry."
Kane, speaking to Channel 4 post-match, said: "Obviously I was on the pitch when Wayne broke the record and I know what it meant to him and I was so proud of him. I remember when I presented him the boot for breaking the record he said, 'I'll be giving this back to you one day'.
"He is a special guy and a great England legend himself, so to hear that is fantastic."
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