Harry Kane statue finally unveiled after four years hidden away as fans all make same Cristiano Ronaldo point

A statue of Bayern Munich and England star Harry Kane has finally been revealed in his home town of Chingford - after four years in storage.

The statue, which depicts Kane sat on a bench while holding a football in his right hand, was originally commissioned back in 2019.

Waltham Forest Borough Council - which is the part of London in which the town of Chingford is situated - spent £7,200 on the project, according to BBC News.

It is a life size statue of the striker, but council members had difficulty in securing it a permanent home.

Plans to install it on a platform at the Chingford Overground station were rejected after Transport for London (TfL) undertook a risk assessment, while two councillors scrapped a separate proposal.

The end result was that the statue remained in storage, with council leaders refusing to comment on when the statue would finally be installed.

In the meantime, The Big Issue published several genuine photos of the statue, which was reportedly requested by Waltham Forest, back in February.

Now, after England's 5-0 win over Republic of Ireland at Wembley on Sunday, Kane has stayed in London to unveil the work - which has been placed at a sports centre where the 31-year-old used to play when he was growing up.

📸 A life-sized statue of Harry Kane has been unveiled at The Peter May Centre in London pic.twitter.com/v90epSw1QU

— Bayern & Germany (@iMiaSanMia) November 18, 2024

Although Kane himself was delighted to unveil the statue, fans weren't entirely convinced.

One wrote: "That looks nothing like Kane."

A second claimed: "Harry Kane unveils statue of Paul Hollywood."

A third commented: "I can only assume the Harry Kane statue is abstract art."

Another said: "Why are all of these statues of sportspeople just absolute calamities?"

And a fifth wrote: "Is there a recent example of a statue where you can genuinely say 'Yeah, nailed it'?"

Fans have made various other comparisons of the statue's likeness, from Rylan all the way to Cristiano Ronaldo, who had a statue of just his head and neck unveiled at an airport in Madeira back in 2017.

The Kane statue does bear some resemblances to the England captain, though, and sits in front of a newly-designed mural which celebrates some of his iconic career moments.

Kane told media at the site of the work: "It's quite humbling to see it here now knowing there's going to be loads of kids walking past and hopefully being inspired.

"I think it's [the mural] a really incredible story of my journey and my life, and the hard work. It's really cool the kids have somewhere to be inspired by."