Harry Kane could soon become a Ballon d'Or winner but the England superstar was snubbed by Arsenal as a youngster for two other forwards
Harry Kane of FC Bayern Munich looks on prior to the Bundesliga match between FC Schalke 04 and FC Bayern Munich at Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen
Harry Kane's career would have panned out differently had Arsenal kept him(Image: Getty)
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Harry Kane is one of the world's finest footballers and a Ballon d'Or front-runner. But the striker was let go by Arsenal at the age of eight in favour of two other sharpshooters.
Bayern Munich and England star Kane is in the form of his life ahead of facing the Gunners in the Champions League on Wednesday night. Since leaving Tottenham - where he became the club's all-time top scorer and a club legend - Kane has dominated in Germany and scored his 102nd league goal in just his 100th game on Saturday.
Overall, for Bayern, he's plundered a staggering 155 goals in 157 games. On top of this, he became England's joint-highest ever appearance maker two weeks ago as he earned his 125th cap. He marked the occasion by scoring his 90th and 91st goals, extending his record tally.
The 33-year-old has fired his way into contention for this year's Ballon d'Or after helping win a Bundesliga title and guiding the Three Lions to a third-place World Cup finish. But before all of these feats were achieved, Kane was passed over by the Gunners.
Celebrations over winning the DFB Cup Harry Kane of FC Bayern München during the DFB Cup Final 2026 match between FC Bayern München and VfB Stuttgart at Olympiastadion
Kane has been bathing in silverware wth Bayern(Image: Getty)
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Benik Afobe
Leyton-born Afobe joined the Arsenal set-up in 2001 and spent almost 14 years on their books. He penned his first pro deal in 2010 amid interest from Barcelona and held bags of potential.
Benik Afobe Arsenal's goalscorer celebrates after the Under-21 Premier League Cup match between Chelsea U21 and Arsenal U21
Afobe showed great promise as a young striker(Image: Getty)
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Alas, in this time with the club, he only made the matchday squad on occasion as an unused substitute and left in 2015 without playing a single senior game for them.
Instead, Afobe embarked on six separate loan moves during his stint in north London. These started with Huddersfield Town, followed by spells with Reading, Bolton, Millwall, Sheffield Wednesday and finally, MK Dons.
Afobe excelled in Milton Keynes and during the 2014/15 season he scored 19 goals in 30 games, including a brace in the Dons' historic 4-0 League Cup drubbing of Manchester United. This scoring streak prompted Wolves to sign him from Arsenal in January 2015 for around £2million.
Benik Afobe of Wolverhampton Wanderers celebrates after scoring a goal to make it 2-0 during the Sky Bet Championship match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Birmingham City
The centre-forward starred for Wolves across two terms(Image: Getty)
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He enjoyed another purple patch at Molineux before earning a big-money move to Bournemouth in January 2016. Afobe cost the Cherries £10m and across two and a half seasons with them, scored 11 times. But he soon fell down the pecking order and returned to Wolves, helping them secure promotion to the top flight in 2017/18.
Wolves then signed him permanently but immediately shipped him off to Stoke City for a whopping £12m. However, Afobe was unable to live up to the price tag and injuries derailed his time in Staffordshire.
He scored just nine goals in 51 appearances and was loaned out to Bristol City, Trabzonspor and Millwall before leaving for The Den in 2022. Afobe rediscovered a bit of form with the Lions before doing some globetrotting.
Aged 33, he currently plays for United Arab Emirates-based side Gulf United FC, having previously starred in the country for Hatta, Al Dhafra and then Al-Arabi. Afobe has also featured for Qatari outfit Al-Mesaimeer. A far cry from World Cup semi-finals and German league titles…
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Chuks Aneke
Unlike Afobe, Aneke did make an appearance for Arsenal. He featured as a late substitute during a 3-1 League Cup victory against Shrewsbury Town in September 2011. The attacker, born in Newham, joined the Gunners' academy ranks at the age of seven and scored two senior goals in friendlies for them, operating as an attacking midfielder.
Chuks Aneke of Arsenal during a training session at London Colney
Aneke did make one appearance for the Gunners(Image: Getty)
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He departed on four loans from 2011 to 2014, playing for Stevenage, Preston North End and then Crewe Alexandra for two seasons. He was Crewe's top scorer in the 2013/14 season with 16 goals.
Aneke was released by Arsenal in 2014 and signed for Belgian Pro League side Zulte Waregem. He mustered just five goals in 53 appearances there before scampering back to England, where he joined MK Dons and like Afobe, was transformed.
He scored 33 times across three seasons at Stadium MK after becoming a bruising striker and eventually joined Charlton in 2019. Aneke's career was defined by his tenure at The Valley, split across two spells (2019–2021 and 2022–2025), with a brief stint at Birmingham City sandwiched in between.
Chuks Aneke of Charlton Athletic after Charlton Athletic missed out on the play offs despite winning the match following the Sky Bet League One match between Charlton Athletic and Hull City
The forward enjoyed his time with Charlton(Image: Getty)
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Aneke made 138 appearances for Charlton, most as a fan-favourite super-sub, coming off the bench to rescue games with his physicality. He rounded off his playing days with a short chapter at Shrewsbury Town last season before hanging up his boots.
Neither Afobe nor Aneke can say they've mirrored Kane's success, but both have had storied careers in England and abroad. Yet Arsenal, who face Bayern on Wednesday evening, likely regret making a bitter adversary out of Kane when they passed on him. In his 2018 Players' Tribune contribution, he noted that he hasn't forgotten their decision.
Kane said: "It might sound ridiculous - I was only eight when they [Arsenal] let me go - but every time we played them, I thought, 'Alright, we'll see who's right and who's wrong.'"