Harry Kane is one of the leading names in the race for this year's Ballon d'Or, having scored 73 goals last season for club and country. As Harry Kane's career has progressed, the 33-year-old has taken an increasingly complete role, popping up to collect the ball as deep as his own box. Many wonder why a talisman tasked with scoring doesn't spend more time closer to goal, but last season the England and Bayern Munich striker scored 73 goals - the highest tally of his career - while playing deeper than he ever has done.

When I mention this paradox, a grin spreads across his face. "Until you really understand football and understand what we've been talking about, it's so easy to say 'stay high, you're going to score' but it doesn't work like that," Kane says.

I sat down to speak to Kane about the finer details of his game, shedding light on his unique role. Watching Kane train, his professionalism is palpable. England's record goalscorer is one of the first out on the pitch. The younger players indulge in playful kick-ups as he watches, engaged in conversation with a member of staff. From a distance, that makes it easy to confuse him with a coach but, given his role on the pitch, it is a fitting mistake.

Kane's style of play reflects who he is as a person, with those who know him saying he is well-rounded and humble on and off the pitch.

The season is in its infancy but Kane isn't basking in the success of the past 12 months. With only five days of pre-season training under his belt, the England captain completed 90 minutes of Bayern's 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund to lift the German Super Cup.

As demanding as his roaming role is, he has taken the physical demands of it in his stride. Across the past six seasons, STATSports - a sports technology company Kane has invested in - found his distance covered, high-speed running and accelerations were up 8%, 22% and 42% respectively. And given how the tactical landscape has changed over that time, it is particularly impressive Kane has been able to not only keep up, but stay ahead.

Kane's role has evolved drastically over the past nine years, with the striker now heavily involved in all phases of the game - including as deep as his own box.

"Over the last five or six years, man-to-man pressure has become bigger," Kane says. "European football is physical and top teams are trying to win the ball back high, trusting their defenders and midfielders to defend man for man to win their battles."

Given that change, the best teams have recruited physical athletes and brilliant dribblers who can beat their man when the game becomes a series of one-against-ones. Kane, not known for his dribbling - and by his own admission "not the fastest", has thrived on his own terms.

Against Dortmund, there was a specific moment Kane dropped deep, looking to arrive in space unmarked. Recognising the danger, two players converged on the Englishman. Kane's dribbling is cerebral. His speed of thought provides him solutions to problems others would attempt to solve with their feet alone. After getting low and using his strength to shrug centre-back Waldemar Anton off him, Kane rose, slightly adjusting his body to the right. These micro-adjustments are a hallmark of his game and through them he is able to shift an entire team's momentum.

Fooled by this feint, Daniel Svensson and Jobe Bellingham found themselves wrong-footed as Kane snapped the ball back the other way, opening up the entire pitch from within Bayern's half.

Kane wins his individual battle with Waldemar Anton, shielding the ball and showcasing strength.

As he rises, he positions his body to the right, facing his own goal. Through clever body positioning, Kane moves the opposition towards the right side of the pitch. This is his cue to cut the ball back into the open space, allowing Kane to evade two defenders, now facing the opposition's goal.

Earlier this year, Bayern boss Vincent Kompany shed light on Kane's unique role, explaining it as being 50% coached and 50% Kane deciding what to do. "I think it's partly instinct, using my football brain and getting the feeling on the pitch," Kane says.

"If, for example, I want to drop and see if the centre-back really wants to commit, he might commit into midfield, but is he going to commit if I drop all the way to my box?"

"After the first five or 10 minutes you really get an understanding of how the opposition are going to play, which dictates how I play."

In the second minute of Bayern Munich's game against Arsenal, Kane dropped deep into a position normally occupied by centre-backs. Arsenal centre-back William Saliba marked him all the way, vacating space higher up the pitch.

There is a shared understanding at Bayern of an approach that allows team-mates to make sense of rotations that, to the naked eye, appear random. Kane, who is given more freedom than most, is at the centre of it.

"I feel like my position now is as one of two 10s, and you work together," Kane says. "You can double up on one side to overload, which causes the opposition centre-backs a problem of who to mark. If they want to mark both, they've got to go man-to-man and then that leaves space for our wingers or full-backs to run into."

"It's posing all these questions to the opposition but, personally, I love having someone close to me who I can link with."

Kane built his reputation playing as a lone number nine, so it is interesting to hear him identify instead as a number 10 - in a front two.

"When you're the number nine on your own you can get marked by two centre-backs and you struggle to get touches on the ball," Kane says. "You're relying on everyone else to find you with the ball."

After discussing last season, I ask Kane to talk through what was going through his head. "The thing with our formation is, as long as there's someone in each position, it doesn't really matter who it is. Lucho [Luis Diaz] in this clip is playing as one of those 10s. I've come off to try and create a bit of space and Lucho's gone through the centre."

Distracted by Kane's dropping-deep movement, one of the opposition midfielders is pulled towards him. This creates space, allowing Joshua Kimmich to punch the ball through to Diaz.

"I think it's Serge Gnabry making the run in behind which takes the defenders back, which allows me and Lucho that space in between. Lucho lays it off and whenever I'm in that position, around 20-25 yards out, I'm always looking if I can get my shot off."

It is one of many examples of Kane initially dropping deep before scoring.

"By playing deep when the play develops, I end up coming into a number 10 spot when everyone's dropped," Kane says. "I can get shots off from the edge of the box, which is a big strength of mine, or I'm running off the back of players where no-one's picking me up - because the midfielder finds it hard to [track]."

The Frankfurt midfielder notices Kane dropping deep. Recognising this danger, he moves towards him. With Frankfurt's central midfielder pulled towards Kane, Luis Diaz is able to receive a pass between the lines. He forms a central front two with Kane. The wingers ahead of them, Serge Gnabry and Michael Olise, push the defensive line back. Kane is found in space around the edge of the box and strikes the ball hard into the net.

The second clip is from Bayern's Champions League tie against Club Brugge. Usually Kane is marked by an opposition centre-back, but the Belgian club give that responsibility to their holding midfielder - something he recognises and exploits.

Lennart Karl scores without Kane touching the ball, but the striker's involvement is undeniable. "These are the little runs, again, not everyone sees," Kane explains.

"With Jamal Musiala and Lenny, they're so good at receiving the ball and dribbling so there'll be times where I will actually stay higher and let those guys get on the ball a bit deeper, and I'll try and make runs in behind."

"Without changing my game too much, I try and complement the players around me. I know Lenny is so good in those pockets and when he gets there, I'm more thinking of running in behind because, one, he can play me in and I can go through on goal, or two, he can dribble with the ball and do exactly what happened here."

"As soon as Lenny gets in that pocket I make the run and not always to get the ball, sometimes it is just to drag the defender away. Now he's one-against-one with a centre-back in the middle of the pitch and that's dangerous for any centre-back."

Karl receives the ball in the middle of the pitch. As seen in yellow, Kane is being marked by Club Brugge's holding midfielder, rather than any of the central defenders. Kane, recognising this, makes a diagonal run in behind, pulling the opposition holding midfielder away from the centre of the pitch.

Karl drives with the ball into the space created by Kane before putting the ball into the top corner.

With the Ballon d'Or announcement on the horizon, Kane's name is in the conversation, primarily for the sheer volume of goals he has scored. What is easier to miss in that debate is the rest of his game. Kane plays for the team in each phase of the game across the entirety of the pitch, while at the same time producing extraordinary individual numbers that match the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland.

He has described himself as playing in the role of a number 10, nine and six at times. In a football world of specific and heavily drilled tactical roles, that is quite the achievement.