Harry Kane offered to become a goalkeeper after Arsenal released Tottenham hero

Harry Kane was so upset after being released by Arsenal as a youngster that he offered to become a goalkeeper.

The Tottenham superstar joined the Gunners' academy when he was eight-years-old, but was later released after failing to make the grade, as well for being "too chubby" according to Arsenal legend Liam Brady, who was involved with the club's youth setup at the time.

Devastated at the rejection, Kane told the club he was willing to switch positions if it meant he could stay on their books, but to no avail.

And former Arsenal academy manager Roy Massey has recalled the moment he had to tell the future England captain he wasn't good enough for a place at the club.

"When I see Harry now I can't help but to think back to when he was a starry-eyed 12-year-old, sat with his mum and dad in my office as I told him he wasn't quite up to the standard we were looking for," he said. "That was the hardest part of the job, telling lads that Arsenal were letting them go.

"Next thing, Harry's dad came back in and told me he now wants to be a goalkeeper - and I thought the least I could do was to send him to work with our keeper coach Alex Welch."

Would Harry Kane have still become the player he is today if Arsenal had kept him on as a goalkeeper? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

According to Massey, it became clear after just a few sessions that Kane wasn't going to be good enough in goal to warrant a place in the academy, and he was let go.

The youngster spent a couple of years back at his local club before being picked up by Watford as an 11-year-old in 2004. After impressing in a game against Tottenham a few weeks later, he signed a deal with them, beginning a near 20-year love affair that would ultimately lead him to becoming the club's all-time record goalscorer.

He began life as a midfielder before slowly transitioning into a striker, but his penchant for goalkeeping always stayed with him and he was put between the sticks for the final few minutes of a Europa League tie against Asteras Tripoli in 2014 after Hugo Lloris had been sent off with all three of Tottenham's subs used.

He did however concede a sloppy goal from a free-kick after amateurishly letting the ball slip through his grasp, suggesting Arsenal's academy coaches were dead right about about his goalkeeping potential - though the less said about the rest of their analysis of him the better.