Harry Kane's Tottenham Hotspur emergence made one former Spurs forward leave the club as his experience was 'unbearable' and it 'crushed him'

Roberto Soldado has revealed that Harry Kane's emergence at Tottenham made it 'unbearable' for him. The Spaniard joined Spurs from Valencia for £27million in 2013 after scoring 80 goals in 141 matches for the La Liga side.

However, Soldado was unable to replicate that form at Spurs as he netted just 16 times in 76 games before moving back to his homeland and signing for Villarreal in a £10m deal in 2015. Six years ago, Soldado, who retired from football in 2023, said he 'suffered a lot' in England and that it was one of the toughest stages of his career.

Now, Soldado has spoken about how Kane's rise impacted his future at Tottenham. The England captain returned to Spurs ahead of the 2013/14 season after a loan at Leicester City, and was handed a chance to impress by Tim Sherwood. Although he struggled initially, Kane then stepped up to the plate.

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Indeed, in 2014/15, Kane made his big breakthrough, scoring 31 goals in 51 matches. He went on to spend the next eight years shining in Tottenham's first team, becoming the club's all-time top scorer in the process.

"He'd come up to train with us, and in training you'd see him finish and you'd say, "Damn, this kid'," Soldado, who admitted his time at Tottenham became 'unbearable', told Deportes COPE Valencia, when asked about Kane.

"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."

Kane left Tottenham to join Bayern Munich in a £86m move back in 2023. He has since taken his career to new heights and won the Ballon d'Or on Monday following a stellar 2025/26 campaign in Bavaria.

The 33-year-old netted 73 goals in total for Bayern and England, winning the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal, and helping his club reach the Champions League semi-final and the Three Lions reach the World Cup semi-final.

Speaking about Kane's Ballon d'Or win, Soldado added: "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."