Harry Kane has said he is happy to be in contention for the Ballon d'Or in October, describing himself as extremely proud of a remarkable goalscoring campaign that yielded 73 goals for club and country last season.
The 33 year old is currently the bookmakers' favourite to land the award, with his tally last term surpassing Cristiano Ronaldo's previous single season record of 69, set back in 2011-12, and falling just short of Lionel Messi's record haul of 82 from the same campaign.
Should Kane win the prize, he would become only the fifth Englishman to do so, following Sir Stanley Matthews, Sir Bobby Charlton, Kevin Keegan and Michael Owen, and the first since Owen claimed the award in 2001.
Speaking to Owen Hargreaves for TNT Sports, the Bayern Munich striker reflected warmly on his achievement.
"I'm extremely proud of the season I put up, for sure. Not that long ago, I was that fan wanting to become a professional footballer and I am here now and winning awards and the Ballon d'Or is the same," he said.
Kane made clear the outcome was now beyond his control.
"Of course, now it is out of my hands, it is down to the voters and the people who decide it. The season I had was my best season by far and we'll have to wait and see," he said.
Despite the acclaim, Kane is yet to open his Bundesliga account this season, with Bayern's opening two fixtures producing a 5-1 win over Stuttgart and a goalless draw against Schalke.
He remained focused on continued improvement rather than resting on last season's numbers.
"It is a weird one because I am already focused on this season now and the next season. Can I be better? Can I improve? But I also want to appreciate what I did," he said.
I'm extremely proud of the season I put up, for sure. Not that long ago, I was that fan wanting to become a professional footballer and I am here now and winning awards and the Ballon d'Or is the same.Harry Kane, Bayern Munich striker
He also touched on the wider appeal of the debate surrounding football's individual honours.
"The thing with football opinions, there are so many opinions, so many arguments for different players and people love this player because he's fast and he's got great IQ and his finishing is great. So I think that is what makes football special, all those debates, and the Ballon d'Or is definitely one of them. I'm happy that I am in contention," he said.
Kane admitted to feeling genuine amazement at finding his name mentioned alongside Messi and Ronaldo, two players he grew up idolising.
"I grew up watching Messi and Ronaldo, the era of them just dominating and dominating. Obviously Messi is the only one to have scored more with 82, but even some of their other seasons, and Ronaldo's highest I think was 69," he said.
"These are numbers that I just thought were silly, which they are. They are the two greatest of our generation and arguably of all time. So 73 goals, even for me, I am pretty amazed by that," he added.