England captain Bayern Munich could be crowned the winner of the 2026 Ballon d'Or on Monday evening in London but first up, a mouthwatering Champions League group stage tie against Arsenal beckons

Harry Kane relishes occasions of this magnitude. History suggests the brighter the lights, the better he usually performs. Five days out from this year's glitzy and hotly-anticipated Ballon d'Or ceremony in London, he's striving to strengthen his claim for the big prize.

Of course, the evidence to support his case is already sizeable. However, when you're as professional and ambitious as Kane, there is always room for growth.

Should he find the target tonight against Arsenal, the club he played for as an eight-year-old, he will be on the cusp of matching a landmark record previously set by Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Portuguese icon is currently the only player to score in 11 straight competition matches. Kane is now on nine and the feat is well within his grasp.

With some bookmakers, he is already considered a 2/5 favourite to become the first English player since Michael Owen in 2001 to be crowned the best player in world football.

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He's now heavily-fancied to pip the likes of Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi to the Golden Ball because his goalscoring numbers - he has netted 15 times in 22 appearances against Arsenal - are just utterly mind-blowing.

England's exceptional and talismanic captain rifled in 73 goals for club and country across the 2025-26 campaign. Only Lionel Messi (82 in 2011-12) has managed more in a single season this century.

Last week, Kane actually surpassed a separate Messi record for most Champions League goals scored after turning 30 following his brace against Norwegian outfit Viking.

Messi notched 35 Champions League goals in his 30s, Kane now has 36 and you simply can't shake the feeling that there are plenty more to come as he prepares to commit his future with Bayern until the summer of 2029.

He now also sits eighth on the all-time Champions League scorers list with 57 goals, tied with Bayern great Thomas Muller, is the top-scoring English player in the competition, the first Englishman to score in seven consecutive Champions League games and he also boasts the record for most goals scored by an English player in a single Champions League season (14 in 2025-26).

Kane's record speaks for itself and does not require any form of PR campaign. So much so, he was not summoned for Bayern Munich's pre-match media duties, even if he's usually a staple to face the press before any tie against English opposition. He prefers to let his football do the talking.

Team-mate Serge Gnabry insists Kane's mindset is what sets him apart from the rest. The winger explained: "He always has the right mindset, always goes forward, always leads. I spoke to him the other day, he just has a good mindset where he never gets thrown out of his lane if I can say it like that.

"He just helps the team in such ways with his performances, he brings the team together by being unselfish and those are great attributes and he's a top, top player to have on your team."

Within Bayern - at the Allianz, around their Sabener Strasse training complex and inside the dressing room - there is evidently a sense and feeling that the German giants are lucky to have world football's most-potent centre-forward.

In the mind of Gnabry, there is no doubt that he's worthy of the Ballon d'Or: "He's had an incredible year, so for me of course he’s done enough."

Bayern's assistant coach Aaron Danks agrees, stating: “Unfortunately, I am really biased because I am an Englishman! But for me to work with Harry is a privilege. His all-round game is at such a high level.

"He can be our best defender in training if he wants. He can be our best playmaker. He can go and score goals. I have learned a lot working with him.”

With Michael Olise (suspended) and Joshua Kimmich (personal reasons), Bayern might just need Kane to do all three this evening against Arsenal, one of his favourite opponents.