It is being widely reported that Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane has agreed personal terms with Bayern Munich. While the Bundesliga champions are still to find common ground on a fee with notoriously difficult Spurs chairman Daniel Levy, there is hope for a move. It is not the turn of events most expected this summer. Manchester United and Real Madrid were shaping up for a shootout over the England captain’s signature. But when United backed out and with Madrid target Kylian Mbappe’s future at PSG less than certain, suddenly the German club became favourites to land the forward.
Despite being a move few predicted, it is easy to see the appeal for both parties. Kane’s career has been built on individual accolades. He is England and Spurs’ record goalscorer, picking up the Golden Boot in three Premier League seasons as well as at the 2018 World Cup. But club trophies have evaded him. Now 29, his years at the elite level have been hung on a series of runner-up medals. Kane is a losing Champions League and European Championship finalist and a two-time loser of EFL Cup finals. For a player so gifted, who has performed miracles season upon season, it isn’t enough.
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So now Kane is reportedly eyeing up a move to a place where medals are almost a prerequisite. Bayern have won the last 11 Bundesliga titles. Robert Lewandowski was the club’s top scorer in eight of those triumphs. In four of those seasons he exceeded 30 goals. No other Bayern top scorer has hit that number since the great Gerd Muller in the 1973-74 campaign. This is where Kane comes in.
Even in a grossly underperforming Spurs team, one so bad it featured three different managers, Kane bagged 30 Premier League goals last season. If he is able to conjure such brilliance in a misfiring side, imagine what he could do at the well-oiled, trophy-lifting machine that is Bayern Munich.
It is this goalscoring prowess that Bayern are banking on. Last season may have been the 11th in a row that ended with the title returning to the Allianz Arena, but it was a close-run thing. They finished level on points with Borussia Dortmund in a season they’d rather forget. Julian Nagelsmann, the manager, paid the price with his job. Former Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel finished the campaign and has now been charged with building for the future. In Munich, they hope that future will contain Harry Kane.
Bayern get a new Lewandowski. Kane gets his long-coveted trophies. This move has everything. What it doesn’t have is longevity. While both club and player will potentially get a lot out of this move, one senses it is a union that won’t last.
Once Kane has the league title his abilities have long deserved. Perhaps he’ll even lift some domestic cups or even that elusive Champions League. But however many he claims, once the trophy box has been ticked, you feel Kane’s attention may be drawn away. After all, he is just 47 goals behind Alan Shearer’s all-time Premier League record. It is impossible to imagine the Spurs captain forgoing his chance at immortality to spend the rest of his days in the Bundesliga.
There is nothing wrong with a footballing marriage of convenience. If all goes to plan, both Kane and Bayern can benefit enormously. A more dominant display over the next couple of seasons in the Bundesliga is the target for Die Roten. Kane helps them achieve that. For the Englishman, the pull of adding team trophies to his bulging cabinet of individual gongs could prove impossible to resist. Whether their union lasts one season or three, it feels like win-win for everyone.
But whatever happens this summer, don’t expect Kane’s Bavarian voyage to be a one-way trip. At 29 years of age, he has a lot of years left to chase down Shearer. Also, even though Germany’s top prizes have their own pull, as an English player he’ll likely want to win the Premier League. What feels certain is that, even if he spends next season lighting up the Bundesliga, we haven’t seen the last of Harry Kane in the English top flight.
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