Harry Kane has officially become the Premier League's second-highest goalscorer of all-time after netting his 209th league goal as Tottenham beat Crystal Palace 1-0.
Kane has overtaken Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney, who scored 208 Premier League goals, and now has Alan Shearer's record firmly in his sights. Shearer scored 260 goals in 441 Premier League games, while Rooney's 208 came from 491 games.
Kane, meanwhile, has scored 209 goals in just 317 matches and looks set to surpass Shearer one day, provided he remains in the Premier League. It is not the first time the Tottenham striker has overtaken Rooney, having surpassed him earlier this year to become England's all-time record goalscorer.
After Kane broke his record, Rooney was full of praise for the forward, branding him a "goal machine". In a column for The Times, Rooney wrote: "When I broke the England goalscoring record, with a penalty against Switzerland in September 2015, Harry Kane was the first player to run over and celebrate with me.
"I later mentioned Harry in the speech I made in the dressing room. I said that I hoped the young players in the squad would come close to the record themselves, and even be able to surpass me.
"Harry had scored only three England goals at that point — but I said those words because I knew he could do it. Even then, with only four caps under his belt, I knew he could become England's greatest scorer if he kept going the way he was and I wanted to give him encouragement.
"He wants to be like Poland’s Robert Lewandowski, a goal machine who is still at the very top in his mid-thirties, and he has it in him to make that happen. I think Harry will finish with an England goals total well into the seventies."
And Shearer is expecting Kane to one day break his Premier League record one day, stating back in March: "I know how much he wants it - he's told me - which is fine, because I was exactly the same. If he stays fit and stays in this country then he'll do it.
"It's just a matter of when. He's doing what great goalscorers do, and there aren't many better than him. "First and foremost, he's the third player to get 200 goals. Only myself and Rooney have done that, so it's a small club.
"I'm a huge fan of his. He's a fantastic player. I've had it [the record] for such a long time that I've always said it'll go one day. I thought Rooney might have a great chance of doing it.
"Obviously he slowed down and then went over to America. It's going to go one day, so if it goes [to Kane] then I'll be the first to shake his hand."
