How Ballon d'Or winner Kane kept growing: 'Nothing could distract from the bigger goal'

Former Tottenham teammate Michel Vorm praises Kane's Ballon d'Or win, citing his consistency, effectiveness and unwavering focus on improvement throughout his career.

Harry Kane's Ballon d'Or win surprised some, but Michel Vorm, who played alongside the striker at Tottenham from 2014 to 2020, saw it coming. "If you look at last season, not just the World Cup, what he meant for Bayern Munich and England, there's one clear winner, and that's Kane," Vorm said.

The award race had focused more on Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal, who finished second and third respectively. But Vorm argues Kane is a superstar in a different way—not through media presence or endorsement deals, but through pure footballing quality. When Kane broke through at 21 in 2014, after loan spells at Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich and Leicester, Vorm and his Dutch-speaking teammates immediately recognised his potential. "This one is in a different category," Vorm recalled. "We thought: as a big club you have to sign him blindly. He was constantly working to improve. I saw him grow every year."

Vorm credits Kane's effectiveness—his positioning, timing, finishing and mastery of fundamentals—rather than flashy skill. Off the pitch, Kane was disciplined too, regularly joining teammates for gaming and poker nights but always prioritising football. "Nothing was allowed to distract from the bigger goal," Vorm said. "If things weren't going well with football or he felt it was too much, he didn't participate.