Not many would've imagined Harry Kane opting for a move abroad this late in his career, especially not when he is just 47 strikes away from equalling Alan Shearer's all-time Premier League goal record, but Bayern Munich presented the 30-year-old an opportunity he felt he couldn't turn down. In Germany, England's captain will likely help Thomas Tuchel's team re-establish themselves as an indomitable force in the Bundesliga following last season's close call, while his arrival will provide the Bavarians with a much-needed boost in Europe after three consecutive UEFA Champions League quarter-final exits. What about his legacy back home, though? By leaving Tottenham Hotspur, has Kane spurned his chance to go down in history as the most lethal scorer the Premier League has seen? Soccer Laduma senior writer Kurt Buckerfield looks at the dilemma Bayern's €100 million (R2 billion) star found himself in and why he decided to wave goodbye to his lifelong side.
Vying for Shearer's record
When he retired from professional football in 2006, Shearer was better known for bowing out as the man who'd scored more goals in England's top division than anyone else than he was for lifting the Premier League trophy with Blackburn Rovers in 1995. Revered and widely respected in his own country and abroad, the ex-Three Lions international's achievement of finding the back of the net in the Premier League on 260 occasions is still held in high regard today, with very few detractors jumping to point out that his trophy cabinet holds only a single piece of major silverware. Kane, however, is playing this sport in a different generation, in which supporters from around the world gather online on a daily basis to talk about football in conversations, disguised as "banter", that don't often prioritise impartiality or nuance. As a result of this and other factors, the discussion around the 30-year-old perhaps centres more on his lack of medals than his ability to do his job to an incredibly high level, and, while those narratives that circulate the internet shouldn't always be taken seriously, they often do have real-life consequences. This isn't to suggest he felt pressured into swapping Spurs for Bayern based purely on what ending his career without a trophy would've meant for his legacy, but this is a player who's been talking about surpassing Shearer, an idol of his, since he was 22 years old.
Dreams change, however. Kane might've once imagined his entire career at Spurs until very recently. Being a supporter of the club since a child, he, like those who attend matches in droves on weekends, might've become increasingly frustrated with chairman Daniel Levy and his seemingly unbalanced view of the team's identity since Mauricio Pochettino's departure in 2019. Five different managers have overseen duties on the touchline in the past four years, including two separate spells from Ryan Mason, who has remained at the club as part of Ange Postecoglou's staff, with Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte among the high-profile tacticians who have come in and left on bad terms. To this day, Mourinho speaks of Spurs as the only former club of his that he doesn't feel a deep connection to. Kane, considered a consummate professional, never came to blows with any of the managers who've been appointed by Levy, but he did show signs of unrest when he pushed to leave the Lilywhites in 2021 following Nuno Espirito Santo's arrival, amid rumours Manchester City were willing to make him the most expensive English footballer of all time. Given the length of his contract at the time, Levy held the upper hand as he managed to successfully fend off interest from Pep Guardiola. The damage, though, was done. Kane was fined and punished for skipping training to force a transfer away from his boyhood side, and City signed Erling Haaland a year later, leaving Spurs' all-time record goalscorer with one less option.
Kane belongs in the Champions League
Having been playing at the highest level for the past decade and a bit, during which he has represented England 84 times and scored 213 goals in arguably the world's most competitive league, it is remarkable that Kane has started only five seasons of his career knowing he would be playing Champions League football. After debuting in the competition with Spurs in the 2016/17 campaign, he would play three consecutive seasons in Europe's biggest club tournament between 2017 and 2020, before the London club returned to the fold this past term after a two-year absence. Unsurprisingly, Kane's record in the Champions League is majorly impressive – 21 goals in 32 matches – which is why its influence on his decision to accept Bayern's advances shouldn't be understated. Only a handful of clubs on the continent are almost guaranteed a spot among Europe's elite every season, and the Bavarians are one of them. But it hasn't been smooth sailing in the Champions League since lifting the trophy for the sixth time in 2020, with the Munich-based outfit having crashed out of Europe's top club competition at the quarter-final round on three consecutive occasions, including at the hands of Villarreal in 2022. Kane has signed a four-year deal in Germany, which means he is likely to have four proper cracks at winning arguably the most coveted club trophy of them all, and his presence will help his team's efforts as much as theirs will help his.
Off to a flyer
Kane made his first appearance for the Bavarians from the bench in their shock 3-0 defeat to RB Leipzig in the DFL Supercup final on 12 August, a day after his signing was announced on social media. England's captain was unable to help Tuchel's team make their way back into the game after being introduced in the 64th minute at 2-0 down, but he was on target in his Bundesliga debut as Bayern beat Werder Bremen 4-1 in their 2023/24 league season opener a week later. The 30-year-old then scored a brace in Bayern's 3-1 victory over Augsburg this past weekend in what was his first taste of the Allianz Arena as his home ground. Shortly after his most recent outing, Kane said: "It was a good win in the first home game of the season. We created good chances, could have scored more. We still have room for improvement in the final third of the pitch. We have great quality. I love the chemistry in the team, we're growing together more and more. It's been a crazy and exciting few weeks for me. Everything has been very positive."
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