Will Lankshear’s arrival at Middlesbrough has been nothing short of sensational, prompting many to wonder whether Tottenham have just sold the next Harry Kane. The 21‑year‑old striker arrived on a deal that could ultimately rise to £20 million, and he has already repaid the fee with a volley‑finished winner on his Carabao Cup debut against Wrexham and a two‑goal haul that rescued Boro from a shaky start in the Championship against Lincoln City. Scott Chickelday, the striker coach who has worked one‑on‑one with Lankshear for the past two seasons, told Sky Sports that the early criticism surrounding the transfer has turned into admiration.
“A lot of people questioned it,” he said. “Those same people are now looking at it and thinking, ‘Hang on, we might have got a bit of a bargain here.’” Chickelday, who also mentors elite Premier League forwards, believes Lankshear is the best finisher he has ever seen. “He has every type of finish in the book – the little flicks around the corner, tap‑ins, headers, volleys.
He’s an all‑round No 9 and there aren’t many like him at the moment. His finishing is incredible.
I tell people and they laugh, but this boy is the closest thing I have seen to Harry Kane.” The comparison to Kane is bold. Kane, the all‑time leading scorer for England and a former European Golden Shoe winner, is a benchmark few can realistically meet. Yet Lankshear’s trajectory, work ethic and attitude echo many of the qualities that have defined Kane’s rise.
Like Kane, Lankshear’s loan spells away from Tottenham have been a mixed bag. A brief stint at West Brom ended without a goal, but a subsequent loan to Oxford United proved pivotal, even though the club suffered relegation from the Championship. Matt Bloomfield, who took charge of Oxford in January when the side were perched just above the bottom of the table, recalled how Lankshear’s presence transformed the team’s forward line.
“Oxford was a big step for Will,” Bloomfield explained. “He had been on loan before and it hadn’t quite worked out, but here he worked incredibly hard, left everything on the pitch, and the experience helped him develop.” Bloomfield noted that with limited senior experience, Lankshear needed guidance on positioning, hold‑up play and becoming a nuisance for the opposition when the ball was cleared.
Those lessons have clearly paid dividends. In his lone Championship season with Oxford, Lankshear netted 11 goals – a respectable return for a side that ultimately went down. Chickelday praised the output, saying, “In a team that got relegated, that is some going. It is tough when you are down there.” At Middlesbrough, Lankshear will enjoy a more dominant side that creates far more chances.
Bloomfield believes the Boro environment will suit his natural goal‑scoring instincts perfectly: “Middlesbrough will dominate the ball and that will give him even more opportunities. He is born to score goals.
He is obsessed. All he wants to do is train and score.” The focus and single‑mindedness that both Bloomfield and Chickelday attribute to Lankshear mirror Kane’s own reputation.
“He is a lovely lad but he has got an edge to him,” Chickelday said. “He wants to be successful.
All the top players are single‑minded and driven.” Bloomfield added, “He has a massive natural instinct but you can see the hours of practice too. It’s the same with Harry Kane – they are born goal‑scorers but they also work incredibly hard at their craft.” Lankshear’s dedication is evident in his training habits.
After official sessions, he would stay on the pitch to finish drills for hours. “We had to push him back into the building because he was exhausted for the next day’s game,” Bloomfield recalled.
This extra work continues at Middlesbrough, where Lankshear regularly arrives 40 minutes early for a warm‑up, completes a full hour with Chickelday, and then adds another 25‑30 minutes of running after the session ends. He even trains alongside his older brother Alex, who recently scored for Gateshead. What does the extra work involve? Chickelday says it is a mixture of repetition and match‑scenario drills: “Headers, volleys, finishes from cut‑backs – all types of finishes.” He highlighted a spectacular long‑range strike Lankshear scored for Oxford against Sheffield Wednesday, describing it as a classic Kane‑style finish where the striker cut inside and curled the ball into the top corner.
Lankshear’s versatility further distinguishes him. He can drift out wide on the left, cut inside, and finish with either foot, making him unpredictable for defenders.
His ruthlessness in front of goal and his remarkable shots‑on‑target ratio have not gone unnoticed. Among the 72 Championship players who attempted at least 50 shots last season, Lankshear ranked third for expected goals per shot, underscoring his ability to generate high‑quality chances.
Beyond open‑play finishing, Chickelday believes Lankshear has untapped potential as a free‑kick specialist. “He never gets to take them but he is a really good free‑kick taker,” he noted, adding that sometimes a session will produce a moment that feels special – a sign of the striker’s growing confidence and technical skill. Looking ahead, Chickelday is unapologetically optimistic: “He wants to be the best.
He wants to be the No 1 striker in England and eventually the No 1 in the world. I would not be surprised in two years’ time if he is Harry Kane’s replacement.” While he stopped short of discussing potential transfers – “Middlesbrough will probably kill me” – he hinted that Lankshear could be a £100 million player within a couple of seasons if his development continues on its current trajectory.
For now, the focus is on helping Middlesbrough achieve promotion to the Premier League. Those who have worked with Lankshear are convinced that his goal‑scoring prowess will be a key ingredient in that quest. Bloomfield summed it up succinctly: “I have absolutely no doubt about that. Will is going to the very top.”