The Ballon d'Or is an award based on class, talent and supremacy in the world of football. It's the very pinnacle of achievement for every footballer across the globe and what it symbolises is only the very best of what our sport has to offer.
As such, its winners are usually the classy, talented sorts from big European clubs who ooze smoothness and skill.
The spectacle is a black-tie event, hosted across the world's greatest cities in the most magnificent of venues. Billions of pounds gather under one roof to celebrate all that is great in this global sport.
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The Chingford-born, Tottenham-based striker, Harry Kane, may therefore seem a long-shot for the trophy.
Picture the scene. On an onyx black plinth stands Neymar Jr, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. They're all wearing designer, bespoke suits and discussing the quality of the Magnum sized Champagne their elite table had been served.
Huddled up nearby, however, picture Harry Kane; trying to converse among the rest about being of the utmost sophistication, his little finger raised awkwardly for no apparent reason.
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It doesn't quite work, does it?
Sadly not; but that's just ridiculous. In football, we have an expectation of what a Ballon d'Or winner should be and this can cloud our judgement on who truly deserves it.
Image: PA
High-class journalists turned out in high-class suits come to drink high-class wine and vote for high-class players and so year upon year we've seen great footballers overlooked when it comes to the Ballon d'Or. Even the likes of Zlatan and Henry never quite made it.
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But Tottenham's talisman is easily good enough and the stats are there for all to see.
The bloke netted his first 100 goals in considerably fewer games than Neymar, Messi and Ronaldo.
He has a higher goals-per-season rate than Neymar and really isn't far off Ronaldo, either.
Image: PA
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Kane is prolific and Kane is consistent. August aside - sorry, Fantasy Team managers - Harry Kane bags goals for fun.
But the thing that makes him stand out among the rest is that he does it for a club who aren't winning titles left, right and centre. He does it surrounded by a team who don't storm the top European competitions or play host to the world's greatest every season.
There isn't another potential Ballon d'Or winner in that Spurs squad and probably two or three in each of the Barca, Madrid and PSG teams.
Looking at this year alone, Kane has scored the same number of goals as Ronaldo (30) and in three fewer games as well. CR7 has the likes of Bale, Benzema and Modrić to supply him and is favourite to win this year's award.
But Harry Kane has never won the Champions League and Harry Kane has a very English accent. Harry Kane isn't the ripped ideal of a man that his rivals across the Channel are.
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What Harry Kane is, is a world-class footballer.
He's said it himself, "Cristiano Ronaldo won La Liga and the Champions League and that is why he wins it. Messi is in a similar situation. To do that it isn't just individual, it is about a team winning trophies."
We couldn't have put it better ourselves, Harry.
Image: PA
So it's time to start taking this lad seriously at the next level of football.
He's proved he can do it, he's proved he has the quality of those who are adorned with fancy titles every year and he's proved himself more than worthy for three straight seasons. Give the man some recognition.
Words by Ben Mountain - @ben_mountain1
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Spurs, kane, Messi, Ronaldo, Ballon d'Or