Former Arsenal academy coach Roy Massey has revealed a young Harry Kane was so desperate to stay that he offered to become a goalkeeper.

Kane was famously cut loose by the Gunners as a junior player before eventually finding his way to Tottenham's academy.

Massey recalled to the Mirror: "When I see Harry now I can't help but to think back to when he was a starry-eyed 12-year-old, sat with his mum and dad in my office as I told him he wasn't quite up to the standard we were looking for.

"That was the hardest part of the job, telling lads that Arsenal were letting them go. Next thing, Harry's dad came back in and told me he now wants to be a goalkeeper - and I thought the least I could do was to send him to work with our 'keeper coach Alex Welch.

"Alex was one of the best in the business and after just a few sessions he told me 'Roy, the lad is never going to make the grade in goal' so this time Harry had to move on. I know how much it hurt him. Some lads are lost to the game forever because they can't get over the disappointment.

“But Harry took my words as a challenge. He went back to playing for his Sunday League team for the next three years and then signed for Spurs. I'm an Arsenal man through and through. But Harry Kane's perseverance is a credit to him and his family."