Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane was deemed 'too small' by Arsenal as a youngster

Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane says Arsenal decided to offload him as a youngster due to his size. Kane trained with the Gunners between the ages of seven and nine but was allowed to move to the white-shirted half of North London.

Arsene Wenger previously expressed his anger over the decision made 13 years ago to allow Kane to leave, with the move coming back to haunt the French boss. Kane enjoyed a breakthrough campaign during the 2014/15 season, becoming the first Spurs player since Gary Lineker to reach the landmark of 30 goals for the season.

The 22-year-old is also a staple member of Roy Hodgson's England squad and is expected to feature at next summer's European Championship. But over a decade on from swapping Arsenal for Tottenham, the reason for his exit from the former has finally been revealed.

"It's hard to tell at that age what the player is going to turn in to," he told The Daily Telegraph after England 2-0 friendly defeat to Spain. "I was small for my age. I was a late developer. So, look, it is hard to call a player at such a young age. After that I went to Spurs when I was 11.

"It wasn't like it took off straight from then, I still had to work hard. There were highs and lows along the way. As I got older and older, I grew up a bit, caught up to the rest of the players my age and it went from there, really."

Following a barren start to the season, Kane has recaptured his form from last term in recent weeks. After failing to net in any of his first eight competitive club appearances, Kane has scored seven goals in his last eight starts including a hat-trick against AFC Bournemouth.