Is Harry Kane better than Rooney?

Rooney for me.

Difference between Kane and Rooney is that Rooney had the lot and could play pretty much anywhere you asked him to play. More importantly he had that nasty bastard streak in him when the chips were down he would step up.
 
Maybe not at the minute but if he goes to City and wins some major honours whilst scoring 40 goals a season he could be remembered better than Rooney.

Rooney for me though is better and give a lot more to the team, won a hell of a lot more as well.
 
If you are talking about pure finishing, then there is some competition. For everything else, Rooney wins it hands down. Rooney was way more versatile than Harry. And when chips were down, Rooney would bust his lung out, trying to make things work. I wouldn't say that about Harry.
 
Rooney should be seen as much better as he was just capable of more and had more talent but Kane will overtake him in my opinion and its purely because of his consistency.

Rooney never had back to back seasons of his very best. Within a season he always had moments of true brilliance but often felt he played within himself for a large chunk of the season apart from his two standout years. Kane has gotten the maximum output of his talent and ability and his displayed it on a much more consistent basis than Rooney.

Kane will have broken both of his records by the time he's done and will be seen as better in the long term.
 
As many have alluded to. As a pure striker, Kane and Rooney are probably on par. But Rooney played most of his prime in variety of support roles and his world class at all of them. He played more or less as as 10, 9, second striker and inside forward. I don't think Kane could fit all of these roles at the same level. But as a pure striker, there is not a lot of better strikers than Kane in the history of the PL.
 
Better out and out goalscorer - Yes.

Better player - Not a chance.

Prime Rooney was a force of Nature, literally played all over the pitch and had what seemed like unlimited energy. He really could dominate a game of football.
Kane just hasn't the cardio to be as good as Rooney.
 
I would like to see Kane at a club that demands success.
 
Kane the better finisher
Rooney the better footballer

Taking both at their aboslute peaks, it's Rooney for me.
 
Better striker. Probably

Better player. No.

Harder to understand. Definitively.
 
Kane is better in my opinion.

Rooney was phenomenal especially as a young player and he should have been an all-time great but as his career progressed he never really hit the heights that his talent deserved in my opinion. Kane is likely to become the all-time England top goal scorer and he has a shot at beating Shearer's premiership record at what will have been a much inferior team than Rooney played in. As a pure goal scorer Kane is a level above what Rooney ever was - the stats bare that out (Rooney 208 in 491 league games, Kane 176 in 270 league games - Rooney 120 caps and 53 goals, Kane 67 caps, 48 goals) but Kane's all round game now is at least comparable to Rooney's in terms of passing ability and strength on the ball/hold up play - Rooney for most of his career was much more creative than Kane however in the last year or two Kane has really improved this side of his game.

Kane doesn't have the explosiveness Rooney had when he was younger and obviously if you were to compare them at the age of 21 Rooney would have been way, way ahead of Kane but judging them now for me Kane is ahead. Both wonderful all-round players and Rooney will have had a much better career in terms of trophies most likely.
 
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BusbyMalone said:
Sorry to answer the question with a question, but would Harry Kane be putting up similar numbers to Ronaldo and Messi if he played for their respective teams? Would he be mentioned as one of the best players of all time like those two if he had prime Xavi, Iniesta, and Busquets behind him? Or prime Modric and Kroos along with being in teams that dominated their league (or at least came second), as opposed to the players he has played with.
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You have to remember that Kane has hit Messi/Ronaldo numbers while playing for Spurs - in the two seasons from 2016-2018 he hit comparable numbers with 35 goals in 38 games in 2016/17 and 41 goals in 48 games in 17/18. If he was in one of the best sides in the world I don't think there is any reason to believe he would not get similar or better numbers consistently. He is more than capable of it - how many goals would this guy score in City's team as an example? He would be looking at 25-30 league goals minimum.
 
balaks said:
You have to remember that Kane has hit Messi/Ronaldo numbers while playing for Spurs - in the two seasons from 2016-2018 he hit comparable numbers with 35 goals in 38 games in 2016/17 and 41 goals in 48 games in 17/18. If he was in one of the best sides in the world I don't think there is any reason to believe he would not get similar or better numbers consistently. He is more than capable of it - how many goals would this guy score in City's team as an example? He would be looking at 25-30 league goals minimum.
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Yeah, I agree. While he has played with some good players over the years, they don't even begin to compare to peak Madrid or Barca sides. Personally, I think he would be getting those numbers consistently over a 7-8 year period if he played in one of those teams, and would probably go down as one of the best players. I'm not going to go overboard here and suggest that he would be on Messi's level because the man is a genius and a freak, but in terms of pure goalscoring, he would be up there for sure, IMO.
 
I think if you had a team that wanted to give it to a striker on the edge of the box to use his size and ability to shrug off defenders and finish I’d have Kane. If you play in a team that wants a striker or CF to drop and run with the ball and smash it into the top corner or play across the front three I’d have Rooney.

I think if Kane left Spurs and went to City 2-3 years ago he’d have won the league and they’d probably have won the CL and he could have went onto have a similar career to Rooney trophy wise while bettering him individually in the goalscoring charts. As it is Rooney will be remembered better than Kane because of his explosive and exciting ability along with the trophies. For as good as Kane is, he’s quite boring.
 
At their peak Rooney was better, but Kane has better longevity. He has been in his peak for longer time.
 
Anyone saying that Rooney was "much" better is simply delusional, but i can understand preferring Rooney to Kane.

With that been said, Kane is better IMO, a better goal scorer and also a better playmaker IMO.
 
Rooney had much more to his game and a terrier like quality that Kane doesn't possess.
Before his injuries and indulgences caught up with him Rooney every time for me.
 
I think some peoples memories are declining. Go back and watch videos of Rooney at his peak. Tell me then that Kane is on the same level.
i think Kane is a phenomenal goal scorer and a good player but he’s coming to the age where he will be peaking soon and you could argue that due to injuries we may already have seen the best of him. There are certainly some signs of decline around pace and mobility
 
Ability-wise, maybe, yeah.

But Rooney has a greater body of work at the highest level, can't look past that when it's that close
 
Aboutreika18 said:
I think it was @Brwned who mentioned Kane's lack of flair counting against him, which is a good point when you compare him against other top level talents and their ability to produce moments of magic to turn games in their team's favour.
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indeed. He reminds me of Muller. Both are/were capable of winning games for their side on their own but in a very machine like manner.
 
Prime Rooney > Prime Kane, but if Harry takes care of himself in his 30s there may have to be a new discussion about whose career, at least on an individual level, was greater.
 
SilentWitness said:
indeed. He reminds me of Muller. Both are/were capable of winning games for their side on their own but in a very machine like manner.
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Yes the lack of flair goes against him as it is I’m not even sure prime Rooney is a better passer than current Kane, I’m not sure why everyone wants to point that as some type of fact... Rooney probably has a bit more range but I would argue Kane’s passing in recent years is just as penetrative and his range has improved also.

What Rooney definitively has over Kane is more flair more explosive faster and a more adaptable player, would say a better dribbler.

I don’t think there’s a big gap though, I think only CR7 and Henry are probably the only two players we’ve seen in this league with a wide gap over Kane.
 
No Rooney at his peak was at one point arguably a bigger talent than Ronaldo in terms of all round game.

Kane is a fantastic striker certainly one of the best the PL has had but a level below Rooney who was that and so much more. A fully fit peak Wayne Rooney was unstoppable by any means and mercurial in nature. A fully fit peak Kane doesn’t come close to that ability but is an outstanding goal threat/creative forward.
 
BenitoSTARR said:
No Rooney at his peak was at one point arguably a bigger talent than Ronaldo in terms of all round game.

Kane is a fantastic striker certainly one of the best the PL has had but a level below Rooney who was that and so much more. A fully fit peak Wayne Rooney was unstoppable by any means and mercurial in nature. A fully fit peak Kane doesn’t come close to that ability but is an outstanding goal threat/creative forward.
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But the Rooney of 18-20 didn’t quite end up being as great as he should have been.. The unstoppable Wayne we talk of is the Wayne around Euro 2004, after that he wasn’t the same force of nature and for all his talent wasn’t consistently a top 3 player in the world, Suarez had a later breakthrough and was far more closer to that overall force of nature some paint Rooney as. Kane for me is close to Lewandowski and Benzema as the top striker of the last 5 years, out of those two names I would have Lewandowski is as definitely reaching a higher level than Rooney, yet he doesn’t have the all round game Wayne had, I don’t think allroundness always equals a more accomplished player but i understand why some feel that way at times.
 
Just even asking the question shows a lack of appreciation of Rooney. Peak Rooney was a unique talent who carried us for years, and I would consider the greatest PL player ever (maybe second to 07/08 Ronaldo) and possibly the greatest English talent to play the game. As much as anything else, Manchester United's demise has been a reflection of a waning Rooney
 
Righteous Steps said:
It’s interesting when people say this, striker wise who would you say then is close to Rooney?

Personally
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Rooney has a claim for being one of the best players in the Premier League era, top 5 at least (i'd put him top 3). Kane, like I said, no where close.

Is Kane a better striker? Sure, but even looking at their peaks, there's not a lot of difference in it.
 
People do overrate our past players I think, but it is hard to compare. We dominated the league. I think 2009/2010 Rooney was amazing really. He was like Son and Kane in one.

Before that Ronaldo was our star.

I say overall it is quite close.
 
RobinLFC said:
Put this Kane in that Utd side Rooney was a part of and he'd regularly score 30 goals a season, I reckon. Maybe I'm underestimating how good Rooney was because it's a long time ago, but I don't think Kane instead of Rooney would be detrimental to that squad.
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It would massively. Its RVN, RVP etc that you need to be dropping for kane as a like for like replacement.

We asked so much of Rooney espeically allowing us to play ronaldo, that I'm actually not sure there's any players you could replace him with and not end up a worse overall team for it.

Rooney was pivotal to our success
 
villain said:
Rooney has a claim for being one of the best players in the Premier League era, top 5 at least (i'd put him top 3). Kane, like I said, no where close.

Is Kane a better striker? Sure, but even looking at their peaks, there's not a lot of difference in it.
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I would say Kane is edging close to top 10 exactly where I would have Rooney. I mean Rooney might not even be the top 5 United players of PL era. He won the player of the year once he finished team of the year 3 times, there wasn’t seasons where he was definitively the best player in the league, were looking at him through the spectrum of what he should have been rather than what he became. He should have been a b’allon d’or winner or at least consistently top 3 players in the world for a number of years in the end he still became a world class PL great but his story has many parallels with someone like Neymar for example.
 
Righteous Steps said:
It’s interesting when people say this, striker wise who would you say then is close to Rooney?

Personally
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But Rooney was so much more than a striker.

An actual comparison would be kane and Shearer.

I don't think you can compare Rooney to kane
 
Paul_Scholes18 said:
People do overrate our past players I think, but it is hard to compare. We dominated the league. I think 2009/2010 Rooney was amazing really. He was like Son and Kane in one.

Before that Ronaldo was our star.

I say overall it is quite close.
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I agree with the premise but Rooney is under rated. So so under rated.
 
arnie_ni said:
But Rooney was so much more than a striker.

An actual comparison would be kane and Shearer.

I don't think you can compare Rooney to kane
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Kane just last season had the most assists and most goals in the league, in fact Kane is far more than a poacher and closer to the likes of Benzema RVP who drop deep and play the number 10 role, Rooneys dynamism allowed him to play more positions but I think we’re underrating Kane’s all round game here maybe because he is a slow oaf who doesn’t look to special doing what he does, but he can pass with the best of them in this league has a wonderful touch as well as score goals.

I would take Rooney as well I think most would but can’t agree with the claims Kane is either a level below or for example Rooney is the greatest pl player after Ronaldo or ‘carries’ United, none of this never really happened, and to be a level above Kane you’ll probably looking at Messi and CR7 levels.
 
Righteous Steps said:
I would say Kane is edging close to top 10 exactly where I would have Rooney. I mean Rooney might not even be the top 5 United players of PL era. He won the player of the year once he finished team of the year 3 times, there wasn’t seasons where he was definitively the best player in the league, were looking at him through the spectrum of what he should have been rather than what he became. He should have been a b’allon d’or winner or at least consistently top 3 players in the world for a number of years in the end he still became a world class PL great but his story has many parallels with someone like Neymar for example.
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You think Kane is a top 10 PL player?
Giggs, Scholes, Keane, Gerrard, Lampard, Henry, Shearer, Viera, Ferdinand, Vidic, RVP, Ronaldo, Berkamp, Salah, Aguero, Kompany, Cole, Terry, Hazard - and thats just thinking off the top of my head for about 30 seconds.

You seriously think Kane's PL career is better than most of those names, and is comparable to what Rooney has accomplished?
He's a top 30 player, closer to 30.
 
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