Questionable Harry Kane statue costing £7,200 and branded 'the stuff of nightmares' after being kept in storage after rejection from TfL to be finally unveiled today in Hackney

A questionable Harry Kane statue which has been languishing in storage for nearly five years will finally be unveiled today.

The life-size statue of the England captain is said to have been completed in 2020 at a cost of £7,200, one year after if it was commissioned by Waltham Forest Council.

But the sculpture of the Walthamstow-born star, who is seen sitting on a green bench and holding a football on his thigh, has been mocked by fans who described it as 'the stuff of nightmares'.

It was planned for the statue to be installed on a platform at Chingford Overground station - but they were shelved following a risk assessment carried out by Transport for London .

Emma Best and Roy Berg, the Conservative councillors for Chingford's Endlebury ward who approved the project, then reportedly rebuffed the idea of placing it in Ridgeway Park, where the Bayern Munich star played football as a youngster.

Before being picked up by Tottenham Hotspur, Kane's first club as a child was Ridgeway Rovers. Former England captain David Beckham , Kane's idol growing up, also played for the same club.

Sky News reports that the statue will finally be unveiled in London Fields, Hackney, this morning.

Art critic Estelle Lovatt told the broadcaster : 'If you think about it historically, a public statue was there to immortalise, show off and loudly boast of the achievements and accomplishments of the person. If it doesn't really bear a resemblance to the person, it's quite difficult to relate to it.'

When asked what her initial reaction was to the bronze sculpture, she said: 'I just thought the Roman emperors wouldn't have put up with it, with this sort of standard.

'It's imposing because of its size and its fantastical because of its size, but it lacks any aesthetic creativity.'

She added: 'When it becomes quite a laughable depiction, that doesn't empower the craftsman or the artist or indeed the master they are trying to capture. It sort of lets everybody down.'

In March, a spokesperson for Kane said that they were 'really excited' about the statue.

'Especially with Harry being England and Tottenham's all time top goal scorer. It is what he deserves,' the spokesperson said.

'The location of the statue is really important to us and like Emma [Best] said we are having some issues at the moment, but when we get it right, we will be happy to go.'

When photos of the statue first surfaced in March, it prompted much mirth on social media.

The FC_E wrote on X: 'Does any professional footballer have a decent statue? Why do they all look so bad. I doubt Harry Kane is happy with this.'

Mollie Goodfellow wrote: 'Why does he have a goatee?'

Ben Dallimore tweeted: 'Harry Kane has a statue?'

Project Football EPL posted: 'Waltham Forest Council spent £7,200 on a Harry Kane statue in 2019, it's been in storage ever since. Why's his head so big?'

COPA90 added: 'Waltham Forest Council's £7,200 Harry Kane statue is the stuff of nightmares.'

Many drew comparisons with the widely-mocked statue of Cristiano Ronaldo, which was unveiled in Madeira Airport, in Portugal in 2017.

This was replaced a year later by another sculpture of the former Manchester United winger, who was born in Madeira, reportedly at his family's request.

Another statue which drew a backlash was of Argentinian football legend Diego Maradona, who was immortalised in Kolkata, India, in 2017.

And outside of football, tennis great Andy Murray had a statue created of him in the style of a terracotta warrior in Shanghai, China, which also raised questions over the resemblance.