Council chiefs caught offside with controversial Harry Kane statue

As far as immortalising England’s all-time leading goalscorer goes, this is surely an own goal.

Council chiefs have been caught offside with this barely-recognisable statue of ​local hero and hotshot Harry Kane.

This is the first time the £15,000 edifice has been seen after officials kept it locked up because of a row over where it should be located.

Waltham Forest Council commission​ed a sculpture of the Walthamstow-born footballer, but​ its whereabouts have been kept secret ​since cash was first assigned in 2019.

The​ bronze statue was set to stand pride of place at Chingford Overground station, but the proposal was thrown out by Transport for London after a risk assessment. It is set to be unveiled later this year.

It shows the Bayern Munich captain sitting on a bench with a football on his knee.

Emma Best​, deputy leader of the Conservatives in the London Assembly​, said: “The statue has a home and will be launched in the coming months”, adding the statue would “inspire young and old alike that whatever your dream, big or small, you can achieve it”.

But despite some raised eyebrows from fans who have been left scratching their heads at least Kane, 31, looked happy with the statue, even posing a selfie…with himself.

Last summer Kane, 31, left boyhood club Tottenham in a move to add silverware to an illustrious career that has been full of highs but low on trophies.

He joined the European aristocrats having progressed through the academy ranks at Spurs and has 69 goals in 103 appearances for England.

Family man Kane, a student at Chingford Foundation School where David Beckham was also a pupil, was the subject of fevered speculation over a move away from London with Manchester United also in the race for his signature before he joined the Bavarian giants.

Incredibly, he was rejected by Spurs’ bitter rivals Arsenal as a youngster for being “too chubby and too slow”.

Kane’s journey to Germany, a path not well trodden by British footballers, follows in the footsteps of some of the games most illustrious players including Kevin Keegan, who joined Hamburg from Liverpool in 1977, and Mark Hughes who also played for Bayern Munich in 1987.