Harry Kane is closing in on becoming England's top goalscorer of all time and could do the same in the Premier League, yet he is still to gain the respect his peers enjoyed and that's something that is becoming stranger and stranger.
On Thursday night, the 28-year-old's match-winning penalty against Switzerland took him above Gary Lineker and level with Sir Bobby Charlton on 49 goals for his country. Kane is now just four goals away from Wayne Rooney's record of 53 goals for England. What makes the Tottenham Hotspur striker's goal tally all the more remarkable is that while Rooney made 120 appearances for his country, Kane has played just 68 times for the Three Lions.
Yet a quick glance across social media on Thursday night would show you that Kane's goalscoring feats are not yet being recognised for what they should be - the feats of one of the Premier League's, his country's and the world's best strikers.
READ MORE: Why Ben Davies has returned to Tottenham and will not play in Wales' friendly vs Czech Republic
There is of course the traditional club rivalries that prevent some fans from seeing the talent in players who wear an opposition club's shirt.
That Kane's goal on Thursday was a penalty and came in a friendly match of course brought the usual tweets. 'He's a penalty merchant', 'He only scores in friendlies' and that strange thing the very young Twitter users do of replacing the letters of a player's first name and surname with the letter 'P' to suggest they only score penalties.
Yet Kane's goal this week was only his sixth goal in an England friendly. For context, Rooney scored 16 in friendlies, Lineker netted 26 and Charlton 35, although it should be pointed out that there were less competitive qualifying matches in the latter two's eras.
On penalties, Kane has certainly had more. The stats show he has scored 14 of them for England, Rooney netted seven, Lineker four and Charlton three. Yet England have been awarded those spot kicks and Kane is the designated taker. There's not much he can do about that and he takes them extremely well and in the biggest moments when the country's hopes have rested on his shoulders.
The irony perhaps is that Kane's penalties have not come against the big teams. Only one came against a traditional football superpower, his very first converted one for his country against France in a friendly in 2017.
Instead Kane has scored goals from open play against the best, including opponents such as Germany, France and Spain.
It's also worth pointing out that at just 28, Kane has led England to both a European Championship final and a World Cup semi-final. he won the Golden Boot at that World Cup in 2018 and scored just one less than those who shared that award at the Euros, Cristiano Ronaldo and Patrick Schick. He has led England further in international competitions than most of those he has surpassed in the record books.
This is a man who has won the Premier League golden boot three times and he's no flat-track bully. Kane has scored 11 times against Arsenal, seven times against Liverpool, six times against Chelsea, five times against Manchester United, four times against Manchester City. Pity poor Leicester City who have been on the end of 18 goals in 17 matches from Kane or Everton with 14 goals in 15 games.
Then there is the creative side to Kane that has flourished in recent years, landing him the Premier League playmaker award last season in a remarkable campaign that brought 23 goals and 14 assists in the English top flight - 33 goals and 17 assists in all competitions. How many players have topped both the goals and assist charts in the Premier League?
With his ability to create goals for others as well as score incredible amounts of them, Kane, who now looks leaner and sharper under Antonio Conte than ever before, is one of the most all-round forwards the English game has seen in the modern era.
Kane is now on 178 goals in the Premier League, sitting fifth in the competitions all-time rankings, and has Alan Shearer's total of 260 in his sights.
The Spurs man could surpass Sergio Aguero's 184 this season in the remaining nine matches of the season and then next are Andy Cole (187) and Rooney (208).
For England, the suggestions are that Gareth Southgate could be set to start Kane on the bench for Tuesday night's friendly against the Ivory Coast and he could potentially equal or break Rooney's record for his country in one of the two Nations League matches this summer in which no fans will be permitted.
The games against Hungary in Budapest and Italy at Wembley will have no supporters present due to the sanctions from Uefa. Hungary were punished for their fans' behaviour during Euro 2020 and England's ban is because of those problems that marred the final against Italy.
While Kane will not be concerned when he breaks the record, just that he does, Southgate admitted that it would be "particularly sad" if it happened during one of those games.
For it's an achievement that deserves recognition and so does Kane.
Rivals fans might mock or attempt to discredit him but every one of them would want Harry Kane in their team. That's the sign of a player who is now one of the best players in the world.
