England superstar ignores Lionel Messi as he names Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe while building ultimate striker
England captain Harry Kane snubbed Lionel Messi but chose Cristiano Ronaldo's speed and Kylian Mbappe's dribbling when building his ultimate striker.
Kane was given the difficult task by ESPN of creating an ultimate striker consisting of eight specific abilities: Movement, speed, heading, finishing, strength, dribbling, link-up play, and work rate.
The Bayern Munich superstar selected former Manchester United striker Edinson Cavani's movement and Liverpool legend Peter Crouch's heading abilities. He went for himself for finishing and he's hit the ground running at the Allianz Arena with 21 goals in 16 games across competitions.
Kane chose Chelsea icon Didier Drogba's strength and United legend Wayne Rooney's link-up play. The former Tottenham Hotspur striker opted for England teammate Jude Bellingham's work rate.
Intriguingly, the 30-year-old chose Cristiano Ronaldo for speed. The Portuguese icon lit up European football over the years with his sensational pace. He clocked a speed of 33.95km per hour during the 2018 FIFA World Cup when Portugal drew 3-3 with Spain.
Meanwhile, Kane opted for Kylian Mbappe's dribbling abilities, and with good reason. The Paris Saint-Germain superstar has wowed fans with his audacious control of the ball.
However, some fans may be surprised to see Lionel Messi miss out on a place in Kane's ultimate striker. The 2022 FIFA World Cup winner has shown throughout his career that he boasts all of those qualities.
Messi is regarded by many as one of, if not, the best dribblers in history. He displayed this during his time at Barcelona, causing havoc against opposition defenders.
The Inter Miami superstar has completed 2358 dribbles since August 2006, per Opta. He sits top of a dribbling list, with longtime rival Ronaldo sitting sixth.
Mbappe beats Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to record
Mbappe reached the incredible feat of 300 senior career goals when France destroyed Gibraltar 14-0 on Saturday (November 18). The PSG star scored a hat-trick on the night, including an extraordinary goal from 40 yards out.
The Parisian forward (24y,10m, and 29d) also reached the 300-goal milestone at a younger age than both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The Argentine icon was 25 when he hit 300 goals in October 2012 while the Portuguese hero was 27 when he managed the feat.
Despite this, Mbappe has a long way to go in catching Messi and Ronaldo's overall goal record at club level. The PSG striker sits on 259 goals in 340 club career games while the Inter Miami superstar is on 721 in 889 games. But, the Al-Nassr skipper is club football's all-time top goalscorer with 731 in 985.