Roberto Soldado says Harry Kane’s emergence at Tottenham Hotspur made it difficult for him at the Premier League club.
The England international spent 19 years at Tottenham and left them for Bayern Munich in 2023.
He has extended his Tottenham form for the Bundesliga winners, scoring 156 goals and contributing 40 assists from 159 matches. The striker has also won five trophies with Bayern Munich, including two league titles.
Kane also starred for England at the 2026 World Cup, managing six goals and an assist. His impressive performances for both club and country helped him win the Ballon d’Or in London on Monday.
The former Spurs star finished ahead of Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappé and Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal.
Soldado on Kane’s rise at Tottenham
Harry Kane winning the 2026 Men’s Ballon d’Or saw Deportes COPE Valencia get in touch with his former Tottenham Hotspur teammate, Roberto Soldado.
The Spaniard, who ended his playing career in 2023, spent two years at the north London club between 2013 and 2015. During the 2012/13 season, he managed 30 goals and five assists from 40 matches for Valencia.
Soldado’s fine displays for Los Ches convinced the English club to invest around €30m to secure his services. However, he failed to replicate his Valencia form in London as he finished with 16 goals and 11 assists from 76 matches.
In 2020, the former striker said he “suffered a lot” in England. Six years later, the 41-year-old has talked about the Bayern Munich star’s rise impacting him while at Spurs.
Kane’s rise led to Soldado’s exit
Harry Kane returned to the Premier League side in the summer of 2013, after a loan spell at Leicester City. He then spent the next decade with their first team, scoring 280 goals and contributing 63 assists from 435 matches.
He managed only four goals and two assists during the 2013/14 season before the big breakthrough in the following season, where he finished with 31 goals and six assists.
Roberto Soldado now states Harry Kane’s rise meant his situation ‘became unbearable’ at Tottenham Hotspur. Therefore, he had to leave them for Villarreal in 2015.
“He’d come up to train with us, and in training you’d see him finish and you’d say, ‘Damn, this kid’,” he said.
“We played in the Premier League, the Europa League, and the FA Cup and Carling Cup. The kid would come on, get minutes, and score goals, and score goals, and score goals. It crushed me, it crushed me.”
“He kept earning more and more minutes in every competition, and well, he overtook us, like a rocket.”
On Kane winning the Ballon d’or, Soldado explained: “Those of you who knew he was something special weren’t wrong, because look, even now, and it’s been quite a while, he’s still a world-class striker.”
