• ‘I’ve always said that team honours are what I want to achieve’ • Striker wants to replicate goalscoring feat ‘year in, year out’

Harry Kane stated his ambition to add trophies with Tottenham Hotspur to the individual accolades he has accumulated as he reflected on a record‑breaking 2017. It started for the striker with two goals at Watford on New Year’s Day and finished with the hat‑trick against Southampton at Wembley on Boxing Day.

The numbers have been breathtaking. Kane’s return of 39 Premier League goals from 36 matches in the calendar year has set a record in the competition, eclipsing Alan Shearer’s mark from 1995 with Blackburn Rovers, while the Spurs striker’s tally of 56 for club and country since 1 January has made him the leading scorer in Europe. Barcelona’s Lionel Messi finished with 54; Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo 53.

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When Kane broke through in 2014‑15, scoring 31 goals in all competitions, he was dismissed in some quarters as a one‑season wonder. The Tottenham supporters chanted that during the Southampton game while Kane’s team‑mate, Jan Vertonghen, would refer to it in a tongue‑in-cheek tweet. Kane said that it had been a motivation to prove he was no flash in the pan.

“It’s probably something that’s always in the back of my mind,” Kane said. “I’ve always said that when people doubt me I want to prove them wrong – from a young age until now. That’s just my mindset. I’ll keep trying to improve. It’s a funny song for the home fans to sing. Hopefully I can keep doing it for nine or 10 seasons in a row.

“I’ve always said that team trophies are what I want to achieve. We’ve got the FA Cup to look at, a competition we’ve got a good chance to win. In the Champions League we’ve shown we can beat the best and we’ve just got to see how far we can go in that. In the Premier League we’ve got to fight for the top four and see how high we can get. For me, it’s about winning trophies – that’s always the aim.”

Kane has previously said that he wants to build a room at his house to display the match-balls he has claimed for his hat‑tricks. He has 11 in total – eight of them have come in 2017.

“I still haven’t got anywhere,” Kane said. “I’ll have to boss my missus about and get a room somewhere. At the minute, they’re stored away in their bags. I’ll have to get them out before the end of the year and have a picture with them. I’m sure that will be a good one.

“It’s just been a great year, with the birth of my daughter as well. The records are great. I grew up watching Shearer score goals and he’s been a role model of mine. To break his record is something I’m very proud of while the club and country one is great, too. It shows I’m doing it on all levels.

“When you look at names like Messi and Ronaldo, I’ve still got a long way to go before I can be compared to them but this is a start and, hopefully, I can keep on improving and be up there one day. It’s always been the goal to be up there with the best players in the world.

“To nick ahead of Messi and Ronaldo is something I’m proud of and it’s just the start. I want to be doing it year in, year out. That’s what they’ve done for seven, eight, nine years.”

Kane has promised to treat his club-mates to a meal out in order to thank them for the service they have provided and Hugo Lloris, the Tottenham captain, joked that it ought to be somewhere expensive. “I bet he did,” Kane said, with a smile.

More seriously, Lloris says that “the most difficult part is coming” for Kane, given that “the perception of him from outside is different now”. Lloris, however, has no doubt that his team-mate will be able to cope.

“I’ve played with a lot of top strikers and, probably, he is the best,” the French goalkeeper said. “He never gives up and his mentality is very strong. If he scores once in a game, he wants two or three. He’s a goal machine.”